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The name, chapter 2, continues this thought of God's destruction toward Nineveh, and you may recall that, you know, very quickly, a quick summary, you know, we've got the book of Jonah, where God had promised to destroy the city of Nineveh, but then Jonah, his great preaching, turned the hearts of people toward the Lord God. We're going about a hundred years into the future now, when it comes to the prophet Nahum, and once again, the city of Nineveh, which is the capital city of the Assyrian kingdom, or the Assyrian empire, had again, gone to weakness, turned to false gods, turned against the Lord God, and now, finally, the destruction of God will fall upon this city. And, you know, as I, we had a look at the previous chapter, chapter 1, this preaching, or this book of Nahum, is known as the burden of Nineveh, and so, this preaching, it's not great, it's not like exciting, happy preaching, it's a burden, okay? And as we looked at chapter 2, you probably had to look, man, it's all very negative, you know, it's all destruction, Nineveh being destroyed, I mean, you know, God's anger, falling upon this wicked city, and as I was reading, I've read through these chapters, I don't know how many times I've read through these chapters, the past couple of days. Because I'm trying to pull something that we can take for ourselves, and go, okay, I see what God is saying, I can see he's mad, I can see he's destroying this place, what do I preach to my people? You know, Thursday night, what am I going to say to them? I've decided to take two thoughts, and they come really early in the chapter here, so, let's start there in verse number 1, it says, I mean, that's how the chapter begins, right? Now, before we keep reading, who is this he? Who is this he that dasheth in pieces? Now, what I want you to do is keep your finger there, and please go to Jeremiah chapter 51. Go to Jeremiah chapter 51, and verse number 20, so let me just give you the historical context once again. So, obviously, when it comes to the Bible, you know, we're focused, especially the Old Testament, we're focused upon the Old Testament people of God, you know that kingdom was divided into two kingdoms after King Solomon, the northern kingdom known as Israel, the southern kingdom known as Judah, the northern kingdom, because of their weakness, was taken into captivity by the Assyrian empire, okay? And then some hundred or so years later, the southern kingdom of Judah was taken over by the Babylonians, alright? Now, Nahum chapter 2, or the book of Nahum, really, is preaching against the Assyrians, Nineveh, okay, as the capital of Assyria, and God is telling them, you're going to be wiped out, you're going to be taken over by the Medes and the Babylonians, which eventually just becomes the Babylonian empire, okay? The Assyrian empire was the great empire at this point in time. The Babylonians would be a greater empire that would take over Assyria in their time, okay? And so I want you to just have that in your mind. Gentile city being judged by another Gentile city, the Babylonians, alright? And so when we see Nahum chapter 2, verse number 1, where it says, here that dash of in pieces is come up before thy face, God is saying to the Assyrians, the Medes and the Babylonians, they're going to come and they're going to dash you in pieces. That army, that empire is going to destroy you, alright? But I want you to remember, because we've gone through the book of Jeremiah, right, when I was down here in Sydney, went through all 52 chapters, and I want you to just remember what we saw in chapter 51. Jeremiah chapter 51, verse number 20, because we have something similar that God speaks about, because once God was done with the Babylonian empire, once it was time for the Babylonian empire to be judged, which nations judged them? Does anyone remember them? Who took over the Babylonian empire? Yeah, the Medes and the Persians, okay? They took over the Babylonian empire. And so when we go to Jeremiah 51, God is prophesying of Babylon's destruction at the hands of the Medes and the Persians. Again, a Gentile city, a Gentile kingdom being taken over or destroyed by another Gentile kingdom. Jeremiah 51, verse number 20, God says about the Medes and the Persians, he says, Thou art my battle axe, and weapons of war. So God says, look, you, that kingdom, you're now my battle axe. I'm going to use you, Medo-Persian empire, to destroy the Babylonians, alright? Look at this. And with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider. How did the name chapter 2, verse 1 start? Hear that dash of in pieces. What does God say? And with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms. You see that? So it's God, really, at the end of the day. You know, the one that's given this empire the power to take over the previous empire is the Lord God. God is using this empire as his battle axe, as his weapons of warfare, to dash the previous kingdom into pieces. Let's keep going there. Verse number 21, sorry. And with thee, again, will I break in pieces the horse and his rider, and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider. Verse number 22, with thee also will I break in pieces man and woman, and with thee will I break in pieces old and young, and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid. I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock, and with thee will I break in pieces the husband man and the yoke of oxen. And with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers, and I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord. All right, so all of that, just to show you, yes, it's the Medo Babylonians destroying Nineveh and the Assyrian empire, but God is the one using them as a weapon. And I want you to remember this, always remember this, brethren, because I feel like Christians, we can lose sight of powers. We kind of forget, and we look at earthly, and we see the wickedness. Look, the Ninevites, they were wicked people, the Assyrians were wicked. The Babylonians, they were wicked. The Medo-Persian empire, they're all wicked. We see how God takes them, and when God is ready to use them for their time, he takes them as his weapon and uses them to judge a people. All right, just remember that. When you start seeing changes in our world, you're seeing different powers, and you're watching all the conspiracy videos. Oh, man, and it all comes back to Jerusalem, or whatever people are saying, right? Or it's all America, or it's all this and it's all that. Look, brethren, don't worry. Don't worry about it, okay? God is in control, right? I mean, we have to get to the point where the entire world one day gives its allegiance to the Antichrist. That time is coming, and we're headed to that direction. We can't stop that, okay? That's prophecy. And sometimes I think as Christians, we get so bogged down with politics, we're so bogged down with who's in power. Listen, just leave it in the hands of God. He's in control. He'll take down one kingdom. He'll lift up another kingdom. You say, but they're wicked. We've got to fight against them. Yeah, but maybe God is using them as a battle axe at this point in time, okay? Oh, man, this nation, this power of COVID and all these issues, well, maybe God is using them once again, okay, to further the end-time goal at the end of the day, okay? And you need to just accept that God is above all things. In fact, this gives me a lot of peace. It gives me a lot of peace to know that every kingdom is just, you know, to God, just a sword, just an axe. You know what? And when God's done with that axe, he can destroy that axe with some other weapon. It's all in God's hands. You know what? We should not get caught up, all right? Let's not get caught up in this carnal world. Our mindset, our eyes ought to be on eternity, the kingdom of God, okay? Christ's return, all right, eternity, new heavens and new earth. That's where our hearts and minds ought to be resting upon, okay? So, again, look, and, you know, sometimes I see people with these... And, look, I know the heart of man because I feel it sometimes, and, you know, you see these videos, people are like, we've got to stand up, and then they'll have this, like, flag. Have you guys seen this, like, flag with, like, a serpent? And it says, don't tread on me. And it's basically, hey, government, leave me alone. Stop stepping on me. Stop treading on me. Yeah, but, man, could you imagine if you lived in the time of Israel and Judah when God says, all right, it's time for this nation to be judged? You know, waving that flag, don't tread on me. It's not going to stop anything. When God decides to judge a nation, he's going to judge a nation, all right? But, listen, at the same time, God cares for his people, okay? Even when our nation is being judged, just remind yourself God has his eye upon you, okay? You're a child of God. You're a son of God. He knows you. He hasn't forgotten about you, okay? And you're still there in Jeremiah. Look at Jeremiah 51 again, verse number 24. God is reminding, or prophesying, that Babylon's going to be destroyed, but he says this in verse number 24. I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord. So why is God punishing Babylon? He gave him the power to take over the nation of Judah, okay? You know, that is part of the chastisement and judgment that fell upon Judah, but God is saying, look, because you've done evil to My people, don't forget, they were a coveted people under that old covenant. You know, these are the people of God. Because you've done evil, now it's your time to be destroyed, Babylon. All right? And if we go back to Nahum, look, go back to Nahum chapter 2, go back to Nahum chapter 2, and you'll soon see that God, once again, is looking about the needs and the persecution that his people have gone through by the hands of a wicked government or wicked powers to be, okay? Now, we're still there in chapter number 1, verse number 1, sorry, we're still there in chapter number 2, verse number 1. Hear the dash of in pieces that come up before thy face. So now God kind of speaks sarcastically. He goes, look, Nineveh, you're going to be destroyed, God says. Okay, nothing's going to stop that. But then he says this almost sarcastically. Keep the munition. Now, that sounds like ammunition. Of course, munition is your military weapons, okay? So he's telling Ninevites, okay, take up your weapons then, all right? Watch the way. Hey, keep out. Have your watchmen looking out for the enemies. Make thy loins strong. Get ready for the fight. Become encouraged. Take up that bravery. Get ready to fight. Fortify thy power mightily. He said, look, get ready to fight. But look, it's the Lord that is sending them, the Medes, the Lord is the one sending the Babylonians to destroy this place. It's like the sarcasm, right? I mean, it's like, okay, you know, nothing's going to stop this. You are going to be wiped out. So you might as well get ready for the battle then, okay? But even in the battle, you're going to be dashed in pieces. And so the first thought that I want to bring out of this chapter, brethren, is that our God is an unstoppable force. Unstoppable force. Okay, unstoppable. It doesn't matter. This is a mighty nation, Nineveh, a powerful city, powerful kingdom, great riches, okay? They've taken over many cities, many nations. You know, they've got a great army, right? They've got the military hardware. They're ready to fight. But it's not enough if God says your time is over. All right? Again, when I think about the God that we serve, this is why I don't get caught up in politics. It's like, who's in power? I don't care. No, God can wipe them out. All right? I can just get down on my knees and pray and God hears me. I can take my cares and worries to the Lord, you know, and it's up to the Lord what He wants to do with that, you know? I have no doubts that God has taken down kingdoms, God has taken down politicians and kings just by hearing the prayers of His people. You know, we have a great power. That great power is because we serve a mighty God. Nothing will stop our God. Nobody has his mind set to do a task or do, you know, His will. It will be accomplished. Nothing can stop God, brethren. Nothing can stop Him. That's why it's so great to remind ourselves that we're Christians and we serve this unstoppable force. We serve this God of great power, you know, who can do anything, achieve anything that He wants, you know? And, you know, at the same time, I know that He's got my best interests at heart. I know at the same time He cares for you and He cares for me even though He's this unstoppable force. Like, we won't get overrun by God because He knows exactly where we're at. And so, again, just that reminder, okay, that it's God punishing the Ninevites, punishing the Assyrian empire, but He's using a foreign kingdom, a foreign power to do His bidding. All right. Now, if you can, please keep your finger there and go to 1 John 4. I'll show you one of my favorite passages. Go to 1 John 4. Keep your finger in Nahum. Please go to 1 John 4. And I'm going to read to you from Job 42. You go to 1 John 4. I'm going to read to you from Job 42 and verse number 1. Now, we know what kind of man Job was, okay? He was pretty much the best Christian at his time on the earth, right? Job says these words in Job 42 verse 1. Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that thou canst do everything. Job says, look, God, whatever you want to do, I know you can do it, Lord. Everything. Then he says, and that no thoughts can be withholden from thee. Because whatever you think to do, Lord, no one can stop you. You're that unstoppable force, Lord. You can achieve. You can do whatever you want. These are the thoughts of Job. You know, thinking about the great God that he is. You know, Job did not whine and complain for his losses. He just recognized, well, I just serve a mighty God. You know, if I have or if I have not, I'm still going to serve this great God. You know, because God can do everything. He can achieve everything. Nothing's going to stop that, my Lord God. But I want you to absorb this truth as well. They're in 1 John 4, which says, Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them. That's the world, brethren. Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Isn't that crazy to think this mighty God is in you? He's not you, okay, but he's in you by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. I mean, think about that for a moment. So, I mean, God's this mighty power over the kings, over the whole earth, and you might think, well, I'm so insignificant in the eyes of God. Maybe if God is judging Australia, you know, maybe I'll be stampeded by God's foot. He'll forget all about me. No, no, no, because God is in you as well. He sees you. You are his people, okay? And as he saw the Assyrians had pushed too hard, you know, had been too cruel against his covenanted people, he goes, now it's time for you to be punished. You know, and remember that, brethren. You know, God, we are the children of God, aren't we? We are his people. You know, we've received salvation. We've been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. How can God forget us? He doesn't. It doesn't matter what's going on in this world, you know, what natural disasters or what viruses or what wars, God still looks down and sees us. Go back to Nahum chapter 2, verse number 2. Nahum chapter 2 and verse number 2. It says, so this is why he's going to judge Assyria now, verse number 2. He says, Now, I'll be honest with you, this verse was the hardest one for me to understand. I don't know how many times I read it. I reckon easily 20 times before it kind of clicked in my head, okay? So if you have some other thoughts, please share them with me. But here's where I understand what's going on here. Obviously, when we read the words Jacob and Israel, we know that's referring... We know Jacob is Israel. The man Jacob, his name was changed to Israel. But the fact that God speaks of Jacob, you know, the way the excellency of Jacob as the excellency of Israel, just that reminder that this kingdom, the kingdom of Israel, was divided into the two kingdoms, all right? The Assyrians, again, they took over, you know, the northern kingdom. That northern kingdom was known as Israel, okay? And so the excellency of Israel was given to the Assyrians, okay? Because if you keep going, it says there, For the emptiers have emptied them out. So all the produce, all the riches, right, all the great things, all the excellency of Israel was emptied out by the Assyrians, okay? And it says, The crops and their vine and the grapes, you know, they were destroyed by the Assyrians, all right? Now, when it says the excellency of Jacob, of course, that would be referring then to the southern kingdom. And if you were here from... Oh, you weren't here because I was in Queensland, but if you listen to my preaching online last week, you may recall that the northern kingdom had... Sorry, that the Assyrians had tried to conquer the southern kingdom and God allowed them to some extent, but then God prevented them. God destroyed the army of Assyria and the king deserted the place and the southern kingdom was kept safe. The point being is that some of the excellency of Judah, which is Jacob here, and all the excellency of Israel, all the riches, the produce, the wealth, taxes, whatever you might consider, all that was given to Assyria. Now, let's look at verse number two again. It says, For the Lord has turned away the excellency. So, God has turned away from Assyria the excellency of Jacob and Israel. So, instead of Assyria constantly profiting from Israel, God is turning that away from them and now they're no longer going to be able to empty out Israel for their profit. Okay? So, that's what's... You know, verse number two for me was a cause for me to understand. But again, it just reminds us that as God seeks to destroy this kingdom, He says, all right, look, my covenant of people, they're going to be taken care of. They're no longer going to be under the authority of the Assyrian power. Okay? And again, this brings us to that second point that I was already touching upon, that God remembers His people. God remembers His people. Okay? You may suffer persecution. You may suffer hardships. The government may tread on you. Okay? But don't forget, His eyes are upon you. God sees you what you're going through. Even if you're going through hardship, God's appointed that hardship for you to go through, to learn, to draw toward Him. There's something that God wants you to learn in that difficulty. Keep your finger there in the name and please go with me to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 and verse number 15. Romans chapter 8 and verse number 15. Now, again, our Heavenly Father, look, He is our Father. I mean, I'm a father. Brother Anthony, you're a father. My dad, you're a father. How many fathers have you got? Brother Daniel, you're a father. All right? I mean, look, if our children are being hurt and we know, why don't we step in and do something? I mean, if my children are being attacked, I mean, if my children are being attacked, you'd better bet that I'd go and attack that attacker, that I'd protect my children, okay? And I'm still a wicked sinner. What about a righteous father, a heavenly father, when he looks down at his children, all right? Romans 8, 15 says, Brethren, we can call God our Father. This is not just like some spiritual term. He truly is our Father if you believed on Christ because you've been born of God. You've been born of the spirits, okay? The new man has been brought forth by the power of God, okay? You have that within you, that spirit of adoption, not a spirit of bondage, okay? Verse number 16, I mean, sometimes people say to me, how do I know if I'm saved? Well, the Holy Spirit will bear witness to your spirit that you're saved, that you're a saved child of God. I mean, you know, when you're saved and, look, I'm not saying that you'll never have some doubts, especially when you're a babe in Christ, but once you understand the doctrine, once you understand that salvation can never be lost, once you understand that it's not by your merits except your faith and trust alone in what Christ has done, once that's settled, you know, you'll know forever that you're a child of God. It doesn't matter what someone says. You know, someone says to me, no, you know, I think you're a devil. I think you're an unsaved false prophet. Do you know what? The Holy Spirit of God has testified to my spirit that I'm a child of God. I know it for sure, okay? Because Christ has died for me. I'm trusting him alone. The word of God says so. I'm saved. I don't care what anyone has to say to me about it. Like now, you know, I've matured as a Christian. I never wonder about this. I know I'm saved. Praise God, okay? But look at verse number 17. And if children then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we, look at this, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. This is why I don't care, brethren, about the powers. And oh, did you know, I don't care. If we have to suffer a little bit, let's suffer a little bit. Let's suffer a little bit. Because it says that we may be also glorified together. Look at verse 19. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Brethren, I don't care how much we suffer in this world. You know, I don't care if in my lifetime it's World War III and World War IV and World War V and the nukes are destroying all the cities and people are suffering. Look, if I suffer, I know my glory in heaven will be even greater, that I'm going to be glorified with Christ. This is what's wonderful. You know, we don't have to be overly concerned. Look, we may suffer bondage on this earth. We may be arrested and thrown into prison, but we've not received a spirit of bondage. Even if this flesh is in prison, this spirit is free. I'm a child of God. This is not my world. All right? And again, just that thought. But think about Nineveh. Think about a city that is far from God. You know, a city that doesn't have the Lord as their Savior. You know, when they see the destruction of their city, they're filled with dread, they're filled with fear. They can't cry to Abba, Father, can they? Okay, so obviously the destruction, one power taken over and out of the power, their city being destroyed is of major consequence to them and that's all they have to live for, this carnal earth. But for us, even if this whole city was destroyed, we have a new heaven, we have a new earth, we have a city, new Jerusalem, heavenly Jerusalem that descends from above. We've got so much to look forward to and we know that everything's going to burn on this earth anyway at some point. I mean, I'm going to enjoy what I can enjoy for the time being, but I know eventually it's all going to burn. But what comes afterwards is going to be far greater. Nahum, Nahum chapter 2, verse number 3. Nahum chapter 2. So again, you know, just those two major thoughts that I wanted to take out of this chapter. Number one, that God is an unstoppable force, okay? And number two, God remembers his people. He's not so unstoppable that he doesn't stop to consider our prayers, to consider our life, to see what we're going through and have his eye upon us, okay? So we have those two thoughts that I wanted to take out of this chapter. But let's keep going, let's keep going. Verse number 3, we'll get through it a lot quicker now. Verse number 3, it says, The shield of his mighty men is made red. So this is the shield of the Medos, you know, Babylonians. Is made red. Why is it made red? Obviously bloodshed, okay? It says the valiant men are in scarlet. I'm going to look this up and apparently the soldiers of the Medes that they dressed in scarlet, apparently, okay? The chariot shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken. And so the chariots are going to be one of the main forces, main weapons to destroy Nineveh. And on these chariots they've got torches, they've got fire. And you may recall last week I mentioned how archaeology, you know, has revealed that Nineveh was destroyed by fire. And then after it was destroyed by fire, you know, they also found that it's been flooded, okay? So these two things, you can see, as these horsemen are going through the chariots, obviously they're lighting the houses on fire. They're lighting whatever they can on fire as they're passing through this city. Verse number four. The chariots shall rage in the streets. They shall jostle one against another in the broadways. They shall seem like torches. They shall run like the lightnings. And so these chariots are so powerful, as they're thundering down the streets, they're jostling. That means like they're striking, you know? So it's not like they're fighting, it's just that they're riding side by side on the streets and as they're riding, I guess the chariot wheels or whatever, they're hitting each other. There's no room, is what the Bible says, there's no room of escape from these chariots. And these chariots are so fast they shall run like lightnings. So if you're on the street of Nineveh, you're going to be wiped out. You can't outrun these horses and these chariots. You'll be run over, you'll be destroyed. Verse number five. Verse number five gives us the tactics of the Middle Babylonian Empire. It says, he shall recount his worthies. Now, his worthies, worthy, basically a people of authority. So this person has more worthy, more worth than another. So it's like the captains or the generals, right? So this is the tactic. They shall recount his worthies. So to recount is basically to keep in communication. Like if you recount money, you're double checking a second time that what you're counting is correct. And so what they're saying is that the communication of this army is, you know, like perfect, all right? They're following orders, you know, they're following orders. You know, things are going exactly as they should. It says they shall stumble in their walk. And so this army is so great that it takes over Nineveh that they even stumble amongst themselves. Like as they rush toward Nineveh, you know, it's so heavy, it's so thick this army with chariots and soldiers, they trip over themselves as they rush toward the wall. It says they shall make haste to the wall thereof and the defense shall be prepared. Now, if you've ever seen, you know, maybe movies or you've read about this stuff, obviously when you look at certain cities with large walls, you know, when it came to a time of warfare, you know, the walls not just gave protection for that city, but also you'd have soldiers and you'd have archers and people up at the wall. So as the invading army tries to come and invade, you know, you've got, you know, archers at the top basically shooting these people down or throwing down whatever, flames or whatever it is, to destroy. But the army is so well prepared, it says that the defense, it says that the defense shall be prepared. So even what's coming from the walls is not enough to stop them as they seek to take over Nineveh. All right, verse number six. Now remember the flooding. Not just the fire, but the flooding. It says the gates of the rivers shall be opened and the palace shall be dissolved. All right, so not just fire that destroyed the place, but Nineveh was built along the Tigris River. All right, and I guess there were certain gates, there were certain passageways for the water, you know, the meads that were able to figure out how we can flood the city. All right, I guess they were taking down certain gates, taking down certain barriers, and so the water would overflow and start going into that city. Verse number seven. Verse number seven is also very cryptic. In fact, it's probably the most mysterious verse in this chapter. It says, and Hazab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her, as with the voice of doves, taburing upon their breasts. And so who or what is Hazab? That's a Bible mystery. It's one of these mysteries, you know, archaeology, you know, sometimes we have names in the Bible, we have kings, we have kingdoms, and I've heard stories where archaeology says, no, that's a fake story. There was no such king known as this, or there was no such city, but then modern archaeology digs it up and finds a piece of pottery with that king's name, or they find the city. You know, I guess archaeology has not caught up just yet to know exactly what Hazab is, but I'll just share with you my thoughts. My thoughts could be wrong, okay? Just my personal reading of this. Hazab shall be led away captive, so I believe Hazab is a person, okay? She, so a female, she shall be brought up, and her maids, so if someone's got maids, obviously Hazab, if it's a person, would be someone of authority, like if they got servants under them, okay? And so, and to be named individually, I personally believe that this might be the queen, okay? Or this would be someone that's high up in authority there in Nineveh. And then it says, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves. Tabrin, Tabrin is like striking, okay? Striking upon their breasts. And so, I believe, this is what I think, again, I could be wrong, brethren, but I believe this is saying that the queen is taken into captivity. She's taken away captive. All her maids are going along with her, and they're kind of like just mourning, they're striking themselves. You know, woe is us. You know, our city's been destroyed, our queen's been taken into captivity, so that's what I believe verse number seven is talking about, but I can't really know for sure, because we don't have any other evidence, even in the Bible, of who this person, or what this person, or what this name represents. All right, verse number eight. But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water. All right, now this pool of water is not talking about the Tigris River here. It's talking about the fact that Nineveh is of old, all right? Now, when we think of a pool of water, you know, we're talking about a location like a bathtub, you know, a stationary location of water. It's not where you've got tides going through or water rushing down. It's just a stable pool of water. And obviously, when you compare a pool of water versus the raging waves of a sea, you know, we're talking about stability, okay, peaceful stability. Basically, Nineveh is a city that's been around for a long, long time. Okay, a long, long time. I mean, we first read about Nineveh in Genesis chapter 10, all right? And this is basically not long after Noah and his family got off the ark, okay? A few generations down, you know, we get to Nimrod and the Tower of Babel, and a little bit further from there, you start reading about the city of Nineveh, very early in Bible history, okay? And it's true that Nineveh is of old, like a pool of water, like it's been stable, it's been around for so long. You know, I guess the thought is, you know, Nineveh's been around for so long, it's going to continue for so long. But then it says this, yet they shall flee away. So even if it's of old, even though it's stable, the nation's got, the city itself is going to be fled away. Look at this, stand, stand, shall they cry, but none shall look back. And so there is a desire, no, Nineveh's got to stand, and they'll tell their soldiers, listen, we've got to stand and fight against this invading army. But no, what do they do? They flee away. You know, none shall look back. The power of the Medes and the Babylonians is so great that the armies of Nineveh are like, no way, we're not going to stand and fight this. They flee, okay? They run away. It's too might, like I said, God is an unstoppable force. Okay, there's nothing going to stop what takes place. You know what this reminds me of? This stand, stand, shall they cry, but none shall look back. This reminds me of when Christ is coming back. You know, when Christ comes back. And I'll quickly read to you in Revelation chapter 6, verse number 17. Revelation chapter 6, verse number 17. It says, for the great day of His wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? Who shall be able to stand? One day God's going to bring His wrath upon this world, okay? He's going to reign literally fire and brimstone from heaven. He's going to judge this wicked world. And people are going to be like, maybe we can stand. No, who will be able to stand? You can't stand against God's wrath. And this is the same thing that's happening to Nineveh. Who's going to stand against God's army, God's battle-acts? None can stand against the Lord. Again, an unstoppable force. You can't stop God. Again, this is another reason why I don't get so caught up in the powers of the earth. Because I think, and you know, I'm a product. You know, I've been a Christian since I was four years old. I've been saved since I was four. Okay, I've been going to Baptist churches my whole life. And I remember my first cover made of Baptist church, not far from here. Alright? There was like a little library. And you could borrow books and borrow movies, Christian movies. You know, I remember what's Left Behind, I think it was. Anyway, there was a lot of end times, especially the 80s. The 80s was like obsessed over the end times. It's like everyone thought we're about to, you know, it's all, it's just around the corner. Surely Christ is coming back at any moment now. And then it comes to the year 2000. Surely now Christ is coming back. And so like there's always this obsession about the end times. And it is an interesting topic, don't get me wrong. You know, I love reading and learning about the end times. But where am I going with that? I was going to go with something. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So you read these books and you've got like the left behind. You've got the people that supposedly get saved after the rapture. And you know how it is with the pre-trib position. It's like now the antichrist has appeared on the scene and you've got to fight and battle against the antichrist. And they're trying to stop this power. They're trying to stop the rise. We've got to stop the antichrist. And I'm going, how foolish is this movie or how foolish are these books? Because the Bible's already prophesied that the antichrist is going to be given this power. I mean God is allowing this to happen. So he can then step in and judge this wicked world and judge the kingdom of the antichrist. You can't fight against it. When God allows a kingdom to rise, he's going to do it. Like there's no point of us, look, forget the antichrist for a moment. Just think about just wicked kingdoms, wicked powers that be right now. We've got to stand up, we've got to protest, we've got to fight. Or maybe God's using that battle ax to judge now. And then God would judge them in his due time. Just leave it alone. Stop trying to fight something. You might very well be fighting against God's power. You might be fighting against what God wants, his judgment on this earth. Our eyes need to be on the Bible. Our eyes need to do what God's people do. But we have this strange, I don't know where it comes from. Stand up against the government. Why? The government is God's minister. As wicked as they are, the Bible says that it's the hand of God. God can use that minister if he wants to. God can take down kings if he wants to. Just leave that arena alone. Our eyes are on Christ. Our eyes are on the Bible. Our eyes should be on the kingdom of God. Our eyes ought to be on winning the loss to Jesus Christ. That's the battle. That's what matters for eternity. Alright, let's say you stop at wicked power. God's not going to pat you on the back and say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You know what he's going to say with that, Well done, thou good and faithful servant? If you see a sinner come to Jesus Christ, if you preach the gospel to the lost, and someone gets saved and their soul is delivered from hell, then God can say to you, thou good and faithful servant. You get a war and stop some power? That's just carnal. That's just earthly. It doesn't affect eternity. You know, but again, it's just, I feel like, I don't know, I almost feel like I'm a lone person fighting this battle against internet indoctrination. You know, it's like we've turned away from mainstream media. We've got to go to alternative media. They're just as brainwashed. They're still thinking carnally. They're still thinking earthly. Don't tread on me. Well, maybe you need to be treaded on. Maybe God wants you to be treaded on. Okay, so you can be humbled and lowered and you can call out to God and say, Well, God, you're my stronghold. You're my refuge. You're my protection. I need to draw toward you, Lord. Maybe I need to have my eyes on the kingdom. Maybe my heart needs to be pulled away from this earth and have my heart and eyes and my mind focused on eternity. You know, Christianity is so different. It's a different way of life. It's a different way of saying things, okay? We need to see where we're at on this earth, what we're going through in light of eternity, okay? In light of knowing that God is above all things and God can use wicked powers if he wants to tread on you. God can tread on you if he wants, okay? God's treaded, again, the Syrians. It's not like God lost control of Assyria and then, Oh, man, they took over my northern kingdom of Israel. What do I do now? No, God allowed that to happen. It's not like God lost control of the Babylonians, okay? God allowed them to have power and then God said, Well, now it's gone too far. You're too wicked. Now it's your turn to be judged. Just leave all of that in the hands of God. Stop worrying about all that stuff, okay? It's in the hands of our Lord God. I don't even know who I'm up to now. Oh, yeah, verse number eight, yeah, verse number nine, yeah, verse number nine, sorry. It says, Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold, for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture. So God's telling the Medes, Babylonians, you take the gold and silver from the Assyrians. They've taken it from other places, take it from them, okay? Verse number 10, She is empty, this is Nineveh, and void and waste, and the heart melteth. And again, look, this is, if your eyes are on carnal earthly powers, you know, we've got to fix this world by making sure my man gets in power. You know, I've got to make sure, you know, my politician or my side of the politic arena, they're in power. Listen, when you don't see success or when another power takes over, this is what's going to happen to you, and the heart melteth, okay? The heart, like, when you think about the heart, that's what, you know, our emotions, we often think about our emotions, our hope, you know? You know, we're to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with our heart. That's where our hope and trust is, when you talk about that. Well, you know what? If your mind's on this earth, and I hope this earth fixes itself, brethren, your heart's going to melt. It's not going to fix itself, okay? It says, And the knees smite together. That's, you know, again, fear. You start to shake out of fear. You know, you feel like things are out of control, but they're not out of control. Once again, if you remind yourself that God is in control, then you know it's not out of control. It can't be out of control if God is above all things. Yeah, the worse things get, the more I know God's in control. Why don't you remind us of this? And much pain is in all loins. So, again, this idea of pain in the loins, we've seen this many times in the Bible. It's not like the labor pains of a woman. Okay, the pain of, man, my city being destroyed, being destroyed, captivity, death, soldiers, you know, being wiped out, and all the faces of them all gather blackness. So, you know what? If your heart is just fixing this earth, okay, there might be good times, but there might be bad times. And when those bad times come, this is what you're going to go through. You're going to lose hope. You're going to go through fear. But again, it doesn't matter if this world is destroying itself. It doesn't matter if there's a hundred nukes in the air right now about to destroy every city on this earth. Okay, if our heart and mindset is on eternity, and that God is in control of all things, then our hearts aren't going to melt. Okay, we know this earth is going to be destroyed. We know it. So why do we set our hearts on this place? I don't get it. I do get it, but I don't get it. You know, the old man gets it. You know, the old man wants protection, wants to keep things as they are, but the new man says, all right, just let it be, God. You do what you have to do. Okay, there's always that battle within us, isn't there? You know, it's what we're willing to accept. Look at verse 11. Where is the dwelling of the lions and the feeding place of the young lions? So we're talking about lions now. The lions represent the power, the kings of Nineveh, of the Assyrians, okay? So the lions represent all the kingly lion, all right? And, you know, it says, so where is the dwelling of the lions? Because Nineveh's been destroyed. That was the dwelling of the lions, okay? So the question is, where is it? Because it's been wiped out, all right? And the feeding place of the young lions. So it's also where the children of the kings lived. Where the lion, even the old lion, walked and the lions whelped and none made them afraid. So in the past, these lions were not afraid, okay? They were the power. They were the mighty power. They thought nobody could take them down. Let's say, hey, we're old, Nineveh. We've been around for a long time. Nothing's going to change. We're just going to get more powerful. We're going to be like this mighty lion. But then the question gets asked, well, where are you? Where are the kings? Where are the royal children? Obviously, they've been destroyed. Verse number 12 says, the lion did tear. So this again, in the past. So Nineveh or Assyria did tear in pieces enough for his whelps. The word whelp, by the way, just means a young lion, you know? And so it's saying that Nineveh did, in the past, tear apart other cities, other nations for their people, okay? And strangled for his lioness, so for the queens. So that's another reason why I believe that other name that was there was talking about the queen. Because again, it's kind of that lioness represents the queen of the lion, you know, the wife or, you know, not the wife. Animals don't get married. But you know what I mean, the partner of the lion. And filled his holes with prey and his dens with raven. And so again, just remind us, well, what happened to you, Nineveh? You were that mighty lion, as it were, that king. You were. You were the one that tore people in pieces for your whelps, for your royal family, for your queen, you know? And what happened to you, all right? So one of the nations, of course, that they tore to pieces was the northern kingdom of Israel. And then God says in verse number 13, verse number 13 says, Behold, I am against thee. Just in case you thought, oh, it's just the Medes, it's just the Babylonians. No, no, no, God says, I'm against thee. God is the one bringing judgment on Nineveh. Behold, I am against thee, saith 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, and the voice of thy messengers shall be heard, shall be no more, shall no more be heard. All right, so God says, look, you're done for. You thought you could last forever. You thought this city's going to continue forever. He goes, you're done. You're finished, all right? And the sword shall devour thy young lions. The royal family, future kings, the children of the kings, they were killed, okay, when the Medes and the Babylonians came and took over Assyria. And so you can see, obviously, the burden of Nineveh, it is a burden of Nineveh, okay? It's a major burden. And as I said to you, the title for the sermon, where is that? It was, He that dasheth in pieces. And even though it was a foreign nation doing the dashing, I want to just bring to you a thought that it's the Lord God doing this thing. You know, again, how often do you hear this stuff preached? Not very often. People don't like to turn to these passages, all right? Generally preachers, they like the, and look, there's nothing wrong with the beautiful things in the Bible, all right? I love preaching the beautiful things in the Bible. You know, I actually rather preach on those things, okay? But we can't ignore these books in the Bible. They're here for a reason. They're here for our learning. They're here to remind us that God is in control, okay? And I'm a child of God. You're a child of God. I mean, when God looks down on this earth, who are the most important people on this earth? It's the children of God. He's going to look after us. Doesn't matter what's going on in this place, brethren. His eye is upon you. He'll protect you, all right? Even if one nation is destroying another nation. Okay, let's pray.