God’s Word for You
Nahum 3:5-7 An echo of other warnings
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, May 20, 2026
5 “I am against you,” declares the LORD of Armies.
“I will strip off your clothes.
I will show the nations your nakedness;
I will show the kingdoms your shame.
Displaying a person’s naked body, especially that of a woman, was nothing but a display of shame in the ancient world. There was no sense at all of titillation, but only shame; it would make everyone turn or look away (verse 7). Luther gets right at the spiritual meaning here: “You have prostituted yourself to everyone with your idolatry. Therefore I will uncover your abominable evils; I will make your sins visible to you. I will confound you so that you become a spectacle for all nations” (LW 18:308). This was a harlot’s punishment: “I will strip her naked and make her as bare as on the day she was born; I will make her like a desert, turn her into a parched land, and slay her with thirst” (Hosea 2:3). And again: “Take off your veil. Lift up your skirts, bare your legs, and wade through the streams. Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one” (Isaiah 47:2-3).
This is God’s usual practice. Before he destroys the wicked, he first reveals their wickedness to them, and in this case, to the nations as well. The nations will be sickened by what they see of Assyria’s sins. God is saying, “Everyone envies you now, Assyria. But they will be sickened by what they see.” The Psalmist complains: “My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbors stay far away” (Psalm 38:11). This is the reaction to the one who is shamed.
6 I will throw filth at you,
I will treat you with contempt
and make you a spectacle.
7 Everyone who sees you will turn away from you and say,
‘Nineveh is in ruins—who will grieve for her?
Where can I find anyone to comfort you?’”
The exposure and the shaming continue. “Treat you with contempt” is a frequent saying (Jeremiah 14:21; Micah 7:6), sometimes translated “reject” (Deuteronomy 32:15). What has been exposed is labeled: “This is wicked, corrupt, sinful.” The next line, “I will make you a spectacle,” is a precise translation: “I will make you a sight to see.” God holds up sin to judgment.
When the Scriptures refer to judgment, it is for the grief and shame of the wicked and for the repentance and ultimately the faith of believers. For example, when David was leaving Jerusalem for fear of his life, an enemy cursed him and pelted him with stones (2 Samuel 16:5-7). David quietly allowed the man to say many terrible things about him. Even when some of his companions wanted to silence the man and slay him, David stopped them. “If he is cursing because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?’” (2 Samuel 16:10). Even at one of his lowest moments, betrayed by his own son, his faith in God did not waver. He accepted God’s earthly punishment (if indeed this setback and rebellion of his son was a punishment) just as he had accepted other troubles in his life that came from the hand of the Lord. He did not stop believing in God his Savior, but he acknowledged that a sinful man will undergo correction from the Lord God.
So Scripture depicts judgment and refers to judgment to encourage whatever is good and pleases God (2 Corinthians 5:9-10), to encourage repentance in particular (Acts 17:30-31), and to encourage faith (John 5:24), patience (James 5:8), faithfulness in the ministry of the Word (1 Corinthians 3:8-13), and purity and uprightness in his people: “He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God” (1 Corinthians 4:5).
At the same time, Scripture also refers to judgment to warn against every evil (John 5:29; Hebrews 10:27), and by pointing out the unsparing strictness of this judgment, as a warning against unbelief and impenitence (Matthew 10:14-15; John 12:47-48; Romans 2:5) and especially against the sin against the Holy Spirit, which leads to judgment: “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:29).
This passage is an echo of many other warnings and judgments of God, but most of those are warnings against Jerusalem and Judah (Isaiah 66:4; Jeremiah 21:13; Ezekiel 5:8; Micah 2:3). In those cases, the Lord brought about repentance, and he preserved his people for the coming of the Savior. But here, Nineveh is doomed and the people of Nineveh have very little time in which to repent. We cannot say that none of them were spared or saved, for with the Lord all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). But we should always take passages like this one as a reminder that the Lord always means just what he says. When he proclaims his judgment on someone else, he is voicing his mercy on us. We should take David’s example to heart: If this is happening because the Lord commanded it, who are we to speak out against it? Rather we should acknowledge our own sins, repent of them, and listen to the Gospel of forgiveness. Our gracious Lord loves us and wants us to be saved. Trust in him, and know that his loving hand is with you always.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.