“The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.” [1]
A prophetic burden is a message of weighty importance producing sorrow or grief. [2]
The burden that God shared with Nahum was to tell the Ninevites to repent lest they perish. The metaphor God uses to describe the Ninevites is of a pride of lions. They teamed up as lions to hunt, capture, and consume prey. They literally ate good people for lunch.
“Where now is the lions’ den, the place where they fed their young, where the lion and lioness went, and the cubs, with nothing to fear? The lion killed enough for his cubs and strangled the prey for his mate, filling his lairs with the kill and his dens with the prey.” [3]
“Behold, I am against you... the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more.” “Nineveh enjoyed its status as a power-center of the world and gloried in the fact that the voice of her messengers commanded attention in palaces all over the world. That day would come to an end under the judgment of God.” [4]
I once heard Dr. James Waller speak on the topic of genocide. A common factor to all genocide events is the dehumanization of one group of people by another group of people.
Consolee Nishimwe survived the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. She is the author of the book ‘Tested to the Limit’ in which she narrates her personal story. “Life in Rwanda before the genocide was beautiful. I was fortunate to have good parents and a great family. I had a happy childhood.” The turning point in her country came when the Hutus started using social media to characterize Tutsis as “cockroaches.” Then, the genocide occurred. In one hundred days, about 800,000 people were slaughtered by Hutu extremists. They targeted Tutsis, as well as their political opponents. [5]
Currently, the following people groups are on genocide alert: The Kurds, Christians, Druze, Shi’a Muslims, the Yazidi in Iraq. The Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China. The people of Nagorno-Karabakh in the Armenian Republic. Christians in Nigeria by Boko Haram an Islamist terrorist group. [6]
The Lord shared His burden with Nahum. To walk with Jesus is to participate in caring for people via praying, preaching, and providing for them. They need both spiritual and physical attention.
The Apostle Paul’s burden was for Christian churches. He wrote, “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” [7]
Our Lord Jesus has shared His ministry to widows, orphans, and to foreigners with me. Such ministries are both challenging and fulfilling. “Thank You Lord Jesus for sharing Your burdens with me and others and allowing us to be Your hands and feet to them. Blessed be Your Name!”
[1] Nahum 1:1
[2] Enduring Word Commentary
[3] Nahum 2:11-12
[4] Nahum 2:13 & Enduring Word Commentary
[5] bbc.com/news/world-africa-54877202 & 26875506
[6] genocidewatch.com/countries-at-risk
[7] 2 Corinthians 11:28
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