The short little book of Nahum is a prophecy against the city of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. In the century since the Ninevites had turned to God after hearing Jonah's message, they had fallen back into their disregard for God and their ruthlessness towards Israel ~ and every other nation they invaded, for that matter. But God's concern is for His people and now God sends Nahum to tell them their time is up. They will be annihilated. My Bible notes that Nineveh was so completely obliterated by the Medes and Babylonians that the ruins of that once-great city ~ one of the world's first "superpowers" ~ lay unidentified for roughly 2500 years.
But among these dire promises, we learn something valuable about the character of God in this book, specifically in 1:2-8. So much time these days seems to be devoted to the teachings of Jesus or about the Holy Spirit, but almost with the feeling that they are somehow separate or more important and relevant than the character of God. We acknowlege the triune God and yet tend to shy away from getting to know Him for Himself. But here in the opening of Nahum, we see three principles of God's character: His irresistible power, His inflexible justice, and His infinite mercy.
The images of power in these few verses are vivid. Nahum talks about whirlwinds or tornadoes, storms, great levelling earthquakes. Also mentioned are things we wouldn't maybe often see as an illustration of God's power, like the ability to dry up rivers and lakes or turning lush crops into a barren wasteland. Yet these are no less a demonstration of His dominion over creation than a hurricane. They might take longer (under normal circumstances), but they still follow His command. A friend once pointed out that we have a really pathetic understanding of "acts of God" if we think they only include natural disasters, because He's the cause of all the beautiful, calm, sunny days, too!!
Clearly, the most uncomfortable verses in the Bible are the ones that talk about God's wrath. No one likes to think about God being angry or jealous, or doling out punishment. But if He is the Creator, that means He also creates the rules. This is why so many fight tooth and nail against the notion of a Creator; they don't want to live by His rules. But God absolutely has the right to rule with authority over His creation because He is, well... GOD! He created everything for His own pleasure and glory. He didn't have to, and that's why He has the right to set the principles by which His creation must function. God has the right to do whatever He wants. And if a creature rebels against God's divine government and violates it, that creature then falls subject to the judgment of God. Plain and simple.
The text says "The LORD... maintains his wrath against his enemies." It's not something that goes away with time. Just because it seems like evil people are getting away with everything they do now doesn't mean God's forgotten about punishing them. No, but He may be giving them time to repent and beg His forgiveness.
For which there will be mercy.
Verse 6 asks the rhetorical questions: "Who can withstand [God's] indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger?" The obvious answer is NO ONE. But then just a phrase later, verse 7 starts off with a stark contrast to all this talk of death and destruction, and Nahum reminds us that God is GOOD. That He's a refuge in time of trouble and that He cares for those who trust in Him.
Immediately, Nahum returns to the promises of destruction for Nineveh, but in that brief interlude, we see the infinte mercy of God, kind of like a desert oasis; a breath of fresh air. I think these verses are here for a couple of reasons. Further down, we see some reassurances for Judah and so I think v.7 is intended for them as well, as a reminder that God cares about them and wants to provide for and protect them. But I think v. 7 also serves as an appeal to individual Assyrians ~ and modern-day unbelievers ~ to know they can repent and take refuge in God as well to be spared the promised devastation of future and/or eternal punishment.
And this is OUR God we're talking about here!! Isn't that amazing?? The One who lives IN us! The One who jealously guards the relationship we have with Him because He lovingly created us for His glory! We don't need to fear His wrath because we're in Christ Jesus and His blood wipes out all condemnation, all judgement, no matter how the earth and all her inhabitants will shake someday. And He is our refuge. No matter how many times we mess up, His mercy is there to wash us clean and spare us from the storm of God's just fury all over again.
Isn't it incredible how much about the character of God can be packed into just 7 obscure Old Testament verses??!
Tomorrow's passages: 2 Chronicles 33-34; Acts 23:16-35
1 comment:
Those are 7 great verses indeed, thanks for that Tammi. So much truth packed in there.
Post a Comment