Man the Fort!
Scripture: He who scatters has come up before your face. Man the fort! Watch the road! Strengthen your flanks! Fortify your power mightily. Nahum 2:1 (NKJV)
Observation: Nineveh is under attack and Nahum calls it to defend itself. The prophet first addresses Nineveh (1:11, 14; 2:1), and later Judah (1:12–13, 15). While the attacker is not named, it is believed to be Nabopolassar, the Babylonian who, with Cyaxeres the Mede, conquered Nineveh.
The four commands in vs. 1 reflect the Ninevites’ scurry of activity to defend their great city. Nahum urged the city to prepare for the approaching siege by guarding the fortress, watching the road for invaders, bracing themselves (lit., brace “the loins,” i.e., exert strength physically and mentally), and marshaling all their strength. But the prophet knew that such precautions could not hold back the siege or change its outcome. All Nineveh’s efforts to defend itself would be futile because, as God said (1:15), the city would be destroyed.
Application: Our marriage and our family is under constant siege from many different directions. Marriage is under attack by society which tries to tell us that divorce is a good option when our relationship doesn’t make us happy. Politically, marriage is under attack by those who believe people of the same gender should have the right to be married. Some social scientists believe that living together before marriage is a good step for couples to take (even though there is a large body of evidence that shows many problems and disadvantages with this type of arrangement).
Nahum’s words seem to place the responsibility for fighting to protect the city/family on the men, or the husbands. “Man the fort!” writes Nahum. As husbands, we must “man the home!” We cannot sit back passively while so many forces threaten to destroy it. We must assume the responsibility for the health and well-being of our wife and children. What this means, in practical terms, is that we must assume and practice daily our position as the priest of the home by initiating the family morning and evening devotional time. No program on TV, no game on the computer, no project (car repair, remodeling, etc.) can take the place of those divine appointments.
“Watch the road!” The study of the Scriptures, particularly the prophetic passages, should tell us as husbands what is approaching and make the proper preparation for those events. The personal preparation cannot be done by anybody else or relegated to others.
“Strengthen your flanks!” What this means is to look to see what may be causing our marriage or family to experience weakness. Is the programing on TV what would lead us closer to each other or farther apart? Is the internet, and what it brings into the home and into our lives helping us or hurting us? What controls should be apply to the access we or our children have to all this technology?
“Fortify your power mightily!” All we have to do is to watch the commercials on TV which show men as weak, foolish, clumsy, unreliable, cowardly, and dumb. That is the image that young boys are growing up with. As men, we need to show the image of men as strong, smart (which does not necessarily mean we know everything), driven, committed (to God, to our wife, to our family), decisive, passionate and compassionate.
Nahum’s challenge to Nineveh, facing the attack of the enemy, is our challenge as men today, when our homes and families face even more fierce attacks. Man the fort!
A Prayer You May Say: Father, help us to be the type of men You created us to be, in Your image. . . strong, courageous, wise, compassionate, and committed to You, to our wife, and to our family. Help us to stand strong against all that attacks us and our families, and may we protect them not just physically but spiritually.
Used by permission of Adventist Family Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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