"A Pronouncement Against Nineveh," poetry

Revised Edition: LukivPress (Victoria, BC), 2022.

Introduction

For those who love Jehovah, he is "a stronghold" (Nahum 1:7), a fortified city, a tower, a strong gate. For those who reject him, such as the Assyrians of Nineveh, he is their "destructive wind." (1:3). Nahum 2:6 says, "the gates of the rivers will be opened, and the palace will be dissolved," referring to the fall of Nineveh in spite of its fortified walls and gate by the Tigris River. Babylonian and Median warriors came against Nineveh (632 BCE), smug behind her great walls. Who could overpower such a protected city? Jehovah prophesized that city's fall, so its fate was sealed. The Tigris River overflowed from heavy rains (historian Diodorus says), and ruined part of the city's wall. Babylonians and Medians invaded this so-called impenetrable urban centre. Nahum 1:8 foretells: "With a sweeping flood he [Jehovah] will make a complete extermination of her place." With her gates open, military forces overthrew her; she was as defenseless as "dry stubble" (1:10) before fire. Does a modern-day "Assyria" stand in line for "complete extermination" before Jehovah, sovereign of the universe? Daniel 2:44 says, "In the days of those kings [modern-day "kings"] the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. And this kingdom will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it alone will stand forever." Again, such kingdoms in opposition to Jehovah's sovereignty will find themselves as "dry stubble" aflame.

An excerpt

1.

See,

Blackberry bushes,

Filling the land,

Thorns elbowing into

Greenish air at every

Angle-

Through valleys,

Up mountain slopes

To the line of snow;

And the goats ran



Loose, and they ate,

Glossy berries,

Green leaves,

Gnarled stocks,

And thorns, too;

And so,

The bushes disappeared

From the land,

Right down to the earth

Like Eden,

And the goats grew fat

And happy.

The author

Dan Lukiv, published in 19 countries, is a poet, novelist, columnist, short story and article writer, and independent education researcher (hermeneutic phenomenology). As a creative writer, he apprenticed with Canada's Professor Robert Harlow (recipient of the George Woodcock Achievement award for an outstanding literary career), the USA's Paul Bagdon (Spur Award finalist for Best Original Paperback), and England's D. M. Thomas (recipient of the Cheltenham Prize for Literature, Orwell Prize [biography], Los Angeles Fiction Prize, and Cholmondeley award for poetry). He attended The University of British Columbia (creative writing department), the acclaimed Humber School for Writers (poetry writing program), and Writer's Digest University (novel writing program).