“For they are like entangled thorns, like drunkards as they drink; they are consumed like stubble fully dried.” (Nahum 1:10)
Three more analogies are used in this short verse to illustrate the utter futility of opposing The Almighty.
First, even at their best their opposition is pitiful. They see themselves as nearly impregnable, their fortifications as formidable, their safety a forgone conclusion. Nahum says they are as easy to overcome as walking through some briars. Perhaps a slight annoyance for a moment, but absolutely no impedance. This is how much trouble any of God’s enemies are for Him to defeat?
“The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand.” (Micah 7:4)
“like drunkards as they drink”
A drunk who has had his fill is not hard to defeat in any encounter. He is not even able to stand, much less defend himself. Utterly defenseless, that is the assessment of all who oppose even the servants of God!
“And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.” (Matthew 28:2-4)
“they are consumed like stubble fully dried.”
Evil men are like dry brambles. No one wants to be around them but other brambles because they are so irritating and useless. Avoided, left to their own devises, this tangle of sinners support each other and congratulate themselves on invincibility. Until God acts. Then they are like the dry brush before the flames driven by California’s Santa Anna winds!
Oh you who boast against the Lord Almighty, against our great God and Savior Jesus, against The Holy Spirit of God, against His Revealed Word, against His Chosen Israel, against His Church? and you who should know better, who claim to belong to Him, consider what you are doing!
“For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” (Deuteronomy 4:24)
To his chosen ones he says “Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the LORD your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has promised you.” (Deuteronomy 9:3)
“Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” (Isaiah 33:13-14)
“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29)