Nahum 3:7–8: “It shall come to pass that all who look upon you / Will flee from you, and say, / ‘Nineveh is laid waste! / Who will bemoan her?’ / Where shall I seek comforters for you? / Are you better than No Amon / That was situated by the River, / That had the waters around her, / Whose rampart was the sea, / Whose wall was the sea?”

December 3rd, 2021 by Pastor Ed in devotional

We find an interesting spiritual history lesson here from the destruction of Nineveh, the ancient capital of Assyria. God was predicting through His Jewish prophet Nahum the downfall of this Gentile nation. When it was given, Assyria was the reigning world superpower of the day. Nahum predicted that when destruction came, the world would rejoice over it; and the citizens of that state would be miserable and alone, with no one to comfort them. God warned the Assyrians, giving them a list of other former world powers that had failed to submit to God Almighty and had passed from the face of the earth. The lesson here for Nineveh, the city that had once repented at the preaching of the prophet Jonah, was that there is nothing worse in either individuals or nations than repenting of repentance. Which is exactly what Assyria did as the later generations, after Jonah’s message, returned to their forefathers’ sinful ways and foolishly attacked Israel. It is God’s desire that all people in every generation repent and follow Him (2 Pet. 3:9 and Acts 17:30).

The gifted Polish mathematician Copernicus revolutionized the study of astronomy. His famous work The Revolution of the Heavenly Bodies was printed and given to him on May 24, 1543 as he lay dying on his bed. Even though he made such significant contributions to man’s understanding of the universe, he still had a humble estimation of himself. If you visit his grave at Frauenburg, Poland, you will find the epitaph he wrote: “I do not seek a kindness equal to that given to Paul; nor do I ask the grace granted to Peter; but that forgiveness which Thou didst give to the robber—that I earnestly pray.”

“LORD, we remind ourselves this day that before You we are all sinners, forgiven because of what You did on a cross for us.”