As we come to the end of the year and look back at the many news items, it worth
asking some important questions. One question that Joel Rosenberg has been asking is
this: Is America in a Jonah moment or a Nahum moment? Let me explain.
When Jonah preached to the city of Ninevah (the capital of the Assyrian empire),
they repented. The king arose from his throne, removed his robe, and covered himself in
sackcloth and sat in ashes (Jonah 3:6). He then sent out a decree to the people, and God
spared the city from the impending disaster (Jonah 3:10).
That generation of Ninevites listened and turned from their sins toward the Lord.
Following generations did the same until 150 years later when another generation of
Ninevites refused to listen to the Word of God.
Nahum then pronounces a woe upon Nineveh. “Woe to the bloody city, all full of
lies and plunder—no end to the prey! The crack of the whip, and the rumble of the wheel,
galloping horse and bounding chariot! Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering
spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end—they stumble over
bodies!” This is the vivid description of the destruction that was to come to Nineveh in
612 B.C.
Is America in a Jonah moment? Or are we in a Nahum moment? More than
a million abortions are performed unabated. More states have sanctioned same-sex
marriage. Politicians in Washington add more than a trillion dollars of national debt every
year. We are shocked at the violence in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and in an
elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
Most of us recognize that if we as a people and a country continue to turn away
from God, the problems in our society will grow worse. Are we ready to repent, or
will we be like the people Paul talked about who were “holding to a form of godliness,
although they have denied its power” (2 Timothy 3:5).
Joel Rosenberg asks a good question. I suspect that what happens next year will
give us an answer.