“From you came one who plotted evil against the LORD, a worthless counselor.” (Nahum 1:11)
It looks like we are now getting to more specific accusations against some group or leader. Someone in a position of influence or authority hatched a plot of “evil against the Lord.” This plotter is called a worthless counselor. I see this as not simply an accurate assessment but as a sarcastic statement of ridicule. “You didn’t actually pay for such foolish advice, did you!?” Or even “OK, you were given a really stupid recommendation. But you TOOK it! Who’s the real fool here?”
Reread it with the sarcasm. Go ahead. I’ll wait here?
We are absolutely responsible for blindly following bad advice! Be very careful who you listen to.
“Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights? Against the Holy One of Israel! By your messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon; I felled its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses; I entered its farthest lodging place, its most fruitful forest.” (2 Kings 19:22-23)
This is the epitome of foolish bragging – plotting against God!
John Calvin points out that Nahum is warning God’s people, then and now, exactly why He is going to judge and destroy His enemies.
This is a theme oft repeated in scripture – warnings to both the plotters and to those who listen. For example, what do we see in the opening chapters of Psalms?
Psalm 1 is instruction to us against listening to bad advice.
Psalm 2 is God’s warning to those who plot and give bad advice.
Read them both now with this in mind.