Do you know one of those people who can whistle loud enough to rise above the din of a crowd and command everyone’s attention? God doesn’t whistle in today’s passage, but He does command the silence of the Assyrian messengers as He demonstrates His awesome sovereignty over all.

In verse 11 the prophet asks, “Where now is the lions’ den, the place where they fed their young?” He goes on in verse 12 to help us understand the significance of his question: “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.” This lions’ den was a place of safety and refuge for the lion, his mate, and his cubs. It’s where he would bring back the prey he’d killed so that his lion family could feast on the carcasses.

Lions in the ancient Near East, just like today, were majestic and feared predators, the “king of the jungle,” because of their might and hunting abilities. The psalmist likens his enemies to lions that would “tear me apart” (Ps. 7:2); the apostle Peter compares the devil to “a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8); and John the Revelator tells of his conversation with “one of the elders,” who proclaimed that “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed” (Rev. 5:5).

The Lord who rules in Revelation promises here in Nahum that He will “devour your young lions”—the powerful warriors of Assyria—and states, “The voices of your messengers will no longer be heard” (v. 13). Nothing can stand against the might of the Lord—not even the strongest foes you can imagine. He alone is sovereign, He alone is God. He alone silences all His enemies. What a God!

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