Slices
Prepare
Where do you see pride like Nineveh’s today (v 15)? In your home, church or workplace? In yourself?
Bible passage
Cush
12 ‘You Cushites, too,
will be slain by my sword.’
Assyria
13 He will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria,
leaving Nineveh utterly desolate
and dry as the desert.
14 Flocks and herds will lie down there,
creatures of every kind.
The desert owl and the screech owl
will roost on her columns.
Their hooting will echo through the windows,
rubble will fill the doorways,
the beams of cedar will be exposed.
15 This is the city of revelry
that lived in safety.
She said to herself,
‘I am the one! And there is none besides me.’
What a ruin she has become,
a lair for wild beasts!
All who pass by her scoff
and shake their fists.
Explore
Nineveh was huge. It was the capital city of the Assyrian empire, used to flaunt its leaders’ wealth and power. It is said that three chariots could race around the top of its walls, they were so thick – no wonder they thought they ‘lived in safety’ (v 15).
However, Nineveh is perhaps most famous for being the place Jonah refused to go to – before sulking when God didn’t destroy it (Jonah 1:1–3; 4:1–4). Jonah eventually got what he wanted! The repentance he saw was only temporary because Nineveh was destroyed (by the Babylonians). Around two hundred years later it was no more: desolate and dry (v 13), and returned to the animals (v 14). God’s creation may suffer as a result of human sin (eg 1:3), but will also be vindicated like the ‘remnant’.
What was Nineveh’s crime? Aside from the horrific things it did to the nations it conquered, its sin was as old as the human race: pride (v 15). Only God can make that claim, yet nations and people keep making it for themselves. Those who don’t say it out loud are often betrayed by their actions. What about you?
Respond
Pride is everywhere, though it is not always as obvious as Nineveh’s. How can you root out pride in your own life, and (gently) encourage an attitude of humility and service in yourself, and then elsewhere?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Numbers 4,5; Matthew 15
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for young Christians who are considering doing Amplify starting this October, and for breakthroughs in any barriers to their participation that might not be of God. (This week's prayers relate to this story.)
