Nahum 1:1-9

God’s Sovereignty is Righteously Just, All-Powerful, and Forever Faithful

English Standard Version Chapter 1

The LORD is a jealous and avenging God;

the LORD is avenging and wrathful;

the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries

and keeps wrath for his enemies.

3  The LORD is slow to anger and great in power,

and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.

His way is in whirlwind and storm,

and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

4  He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;

he dries up all the rivers;

Bashan and Carmel wither;

the bloom of Lebanon withers.

5  The mountains quake before him;

the hills melt;

the earth heaves before him,

the world and all who dwell in it.

6  Who can stand before his indignation?

Who can endure the heat of his anger?

His wrath is poured out like fire,

and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.

7  The LORD is good,

a stronghold in the day of trouble;

he knows those who take refuge in him.

8  But with an overflowing flood

he will make a complete end of the adversaries,

and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

9  What do you plot against the LORD?

He will make a complete end;

trouble will not rise up a second time.

God in His Sovereignty is Righteously Just, All-Powerful, and Forever Faithful

When was the last time you reflected on God’s sovereignty? Was it this morning as you were on your way to church? Perhaps it was throughout the week or in your morning bible study.

Is your view of God’s sovereignty biblical? or perhaps is it tarnished from worldly influence, cultural traditions, or even false teaching?

Is our view of God right? By what standard? What does it mean to fear the Lord?

In John 10 we see Christ revealing God’s plan for His redemption of His people, and the truth about Jesus as the Good Shepherd fulfilling old testament prohecy. And similarly, we see Him revealing the truth about the Pharisees who are not good shepherds, but rather false/bad shepherds. Matt showed us in Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34 God’s terrible judgement and vengeance that would be carried out against such as these. We also see the promise of God through Jesus Christ edifying His perfect salvation, sanctification and preservation of those that would put their faith and trust in Him. How they would have refuge and deliverance from the oppression against them for their faith in Christ.

Today we will explore parallel truths and promises rendered and carried out by God through the prophet of Nahum against the Assyrian King and his kingdom in the destruction of Nineveh.

Babylon and Nineveh - established by Nimrod in Genesis 10:8-10

Genesis 10:8–10 NASB 2020

Now Cush fathered Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Documented in the Code of Hammurrabi crica 2200 BC

Known for its great wealth and violence toward its enemies.

Babylon known for Violence against God - Nineveh known for Violence against people

Contrast with 1 John 5:1-4

1 John 5:1–4 NASB 2020

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and follow His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.

Assyrians raided Judah in 701 BC

Known for delivering their wrath against any who opposed them. Accordingly they were known for their tremendous wealth.

Nahum prophesied against them some time between 660 BC and 612 BC - the recorded destruction of Nineveh

God’s destruction of Ninevah was carried out

The Minor Prophets, Volume 2: (Micah–Malachi): An Expositional Commentary (The Fall of Nineveh)

But in the year 612 B.C. the doom of the city arrived. Combined armies of Babylonians and Scythians marched up the left bank of the Tigris River and surrounded the city. It happened in early spring at the time of the annual rainfalls. Since the rains were especially hard that year, the Tigris and other rivers flooded and apparently washed away a portion of the walls, leaving a breach for the armies to enter the city.The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (c. 20 B.C.) says that the river not only broke down the walls of the city, it also inundated part of it. At this point, the king, Sardanapalus, remembering an oracle to the effect that Nineveh would only fall when the river itself declared war against it, believed that the oracle was fulfilled and abandoned any hope of saving himself. He built a gigantic funeral pyre in the royal precincts, heaped up large quantities of gold and costly clothes, shut his concubines and eunuchs in a chamber he had made in the midst of the pyre, and then burned himself, his family, his concubines and eunuchs, and the palace.Whatever had not been burned in this destruction was finished off by the entering armies. There was a terrible slaughter. Diodorus says, “So great was the multitude of the slain that the flowing stream, mingled with their blood, changed its color for a considerable distance.”There was unparalleled looting. For centuries the wealth of the ancient world had been pouring into Nineveh as a result of the Assyrian conquests. Now it poured out. Diodorus says, using a phrase which he does not employ in any other description of a city’s fall, “They plundered the spoil of the city, a quantity beyond counting.”

Ninevah’s destruction was so vast, that its remains were not discovered again until 1847.

In God’s Sovereignty He is Righteously Just, All-Powerful, and Forever Faithful

I. In His Sovereignty, God is Righteously Just

A. God is Holy, Righteous and Good

Isaiah 6:1–7 (NASB 2020)

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim were standing above Him, each having six wings: with two each covered his face, and with two each covered his feet, and with two each flew. And one called out to another and said,

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of armies.

The whole earth is full of His glory.”

And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said,

“Woe to me, for I am ruined!

Because I am a man of unclean lips,

And I live among a people of unclean lips;

For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of armies.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin.”

Jeremiah 9:24 (NASB 2020)

but let the one who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises mercy, justice, and righteousness on the earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

Psalm 19:1–12 (NASB 2020)

The heavens tell of the glory of God;

And their expanse declares the work of His hands.

Day to day pours forth speech,

And night to night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words;

Their voice is not heard.

Their line has gone out into all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world.

In them He has placed a tent for the sun,

Which is like a groom coming out of his chamber;

It rejoices like a strong person to run his course.

Its rising is from one end of the heavens,

And its circuit to the other end of them;

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.

They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much pure gold;

Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, Your servant is warned by them;

In keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.

Romans 1:16–17 (NASB 2020)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “But the righteous one will live by faith.”

B. Man is sinful and deserving of wrath

Genesis 3:16–17 NASB 2020

To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you shall deliver children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; With hard labor you shall eat from it All the days of your life.

Romans 3:10-20, 23

Romans 3:10–20 (NASB 2020)

as it is written:

“There is no righteous person, not even one;

There is no one who understands,

There is no one who seeks out God;

they have All turned aside, together they have become Corrupt;

There is no one who does good,

There is not even one.”

… through the Law comes knowledge of sin.

Romans 3:23 (NASB 2020)

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 5:12 (NASB 2020)

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned—

Ephesians 2:1–3 (NASB 2020)

And you were dead in your offenses and sins, in which you previously walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest.

C . Sin must be punished

Nahum 1:2–3 (NASB 2020)

A jealous and avenging God is the Lord;

The Lord is avenging and wrathful.

The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries,

And He reserves wrath for His enemies.

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,

And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.

In the gale and the storm is His way,

And clouds are the dust beneath His feet.

Romans 1:18 (NASB 2020)

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

Romans 6:23 (NASB 2020)

For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 3:18–19 (NASB 2020)

The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil.

Nahum 1:1-3 “The pronouncement of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite: A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In the gale and the storm is His way, And clouds are the dust beneath His feet.”

II. In His Sovereignty, God is All-In His power.

He is more than able to set His wrath and carry it out on His enemies. Nothing can stand against Him. He has no weakness. Nothing or no being can stand against Him, nor escape Him. The fact that He holds back His wrath is clear evidence of His grace.

A. All creation is subject and subjected unto God

Nahum 1:3–5 (NASB 2020)

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,

And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.

In the gale and the storm is His way,

And clouds are the dust beneath His feet.

He rebukes the sea and dries it up;

He dries up all the rivers.

Bashan and Carmel wither,

The blossoms of Lebanon wither.

Mountains quake because of Him,

And the hills come apart;

Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence,

The world and all the inhabitants in it.

upheaved: moved upward with power; established

Romans 8:20–23 (NASB 2020)

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only that, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our body.

1 Chronicles 29:11–12 (NASB 2020)

Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and on the earth; Yours is the dominion, Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.

Romans 11:33–35 (NASB 2020)

Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or Who has first given to Him, that it would be paid back to him?

Job 38:4–18 NASB 2020

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the measuring line over it? “On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy? “Or who enclosed the sea with doors When it went out from the womb, bursting forth; When I made a cloud its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling bands, And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, And I said, ‘As far as this point you shall come, but no farther; And here your proud waves shall stop’? “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And made the dawn know its place, So that it would take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked would be shaken off from it? “It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand out like a garment. “Their light is withheld from the wicked, And the uplifted arm is broken. “Have you entered the springs of the sea, And walked in the depth of the ocean? “Have the gates of death been revealed to you, And have you seen the gates of deep darkness? “Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.

B. Nothing can stand against Him

Nahum 1:6 (NASB 2020)

Who can stand before His indignation?

Who can endure the burning of His anger?

His wrath gushes forth like fire,

And the rocks are broken up by Him.

2 Chronicles 20:6 (NASB 2020)

and he said, “Lord, God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens? And are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You.

Job 12:13–14 (NASB 2020)

“Wisdom and might are with Him;

Advice and understanding belong to Him.

“Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;

He imprisons a person, and there is no release.

Psalm 103:19 (NASB 2020)

The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,

And His sovereignty rules over all.

C. There is no place to hide from God

Nahum 1:8 (NASB 2020)

But with an overflowing flood

He will make a complete end of its site,

And will pursue His enemies into darkness.

Jeremiah 23:23–24 (NASB 2020)

“Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord,

“And not a God far off?

“Can a person hide himself in hiding places

So that I do not see him?” declares the Lord.

“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.

Psalm 139:1–12 (NASB 2020)

Lord, You have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit down and when I get up;

You understand my thought from far away.

You scrutinize my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before there is a word on my tongue,

Behold, Lord, You know it all.

You have encircled me behind and in front,

And placed Your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is too high, I cannot comprehend it.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.

If I take up the wings of the dawn,

If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

Even there Your hand will lead me,

And Your right hand will take hold of me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,

And the light around me will be night,”

Even darkness is not dark to You,

And the night is as bright as the day.

Darkness and light are alike to You.

III. In His Sovereignty, God is Forever Faithful

He is faithful to save and redeem His people and give them refuge.

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He is faithful to deliver and bring forth His wrath against every last enemy.

He is faithful to wipe out all evil.

A. To Redeem and Deliver His people

Nahum 1:7 (NASB 2020)

The Lord is good,

A stronghold in the day of trouble,

And He knows those who take refuge in Him.

Psalm 117 (NASB 2020)

Praise the Lord, all nations;

Sing His praises, all peoples!

For His mercy toward us is great,

And the truth of the Lord is everlasting.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 130 (NASB 2020)

A Song of Ascents.

Out of the depths I have cried to You, Lord.

Lord, hear my voice!

Let Your ears be attentive

To the sound of my pleadings.

If You, Lord, were to keep account of guilty deeds,

Lord, who could stand?

But there is forgiveness with You,

So that You may be revered.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

And I wait for His word.

My soul waits in hope for the Lord

More than the watchmen for the morning;

Yes, more than the watchmen for the morning.

Israel, wait for the Lord;

For with the Lord there is mercy,

And with Him is abundant redemption.

And He will redeem Israel

From all his guilty deeds.

Psalm 32:7 (NASB 2020)

You are my hiding place; You keep me from trouble;

You surround me with songs of deliverance.

Selah

Romans 3:24–26 (NASB 2020)

being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished; for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

all of God’s goodness and righteousness and justice are revealed here in His gospel truth

Romans 5:6–11 (NASB 2020)

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous person; though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also celebrate in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

1 John 1:9 (NASB 2020)

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NASB 2020)

For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Hebrews 10:12–23 (NASB 2020)

but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies are made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

“This is the covenant which I will make with them

After those days, declares the Lord:

I will put My laws upon their hearts,

And write them on their mind,”

He then says,

“And their sins and their lawless deeds

I will no longer remember.”

Now where there is forgiveness of these things, an offering for sin is no longer required.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let’s approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;

B. He is faithful to carry out His wrath

Nahum 1:2-3

Nahum 1:2–3 (NASB 2020)

A jealous and avenging God is the Lord;

The Lord is avenging and wrathful.

The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries,

And He reserves wrath for His enemies.

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,

And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.

In the gale and the storm is His way,

And clouds are the dust beneath His feet.

Nahum 1:8 (NASB 2020)

But with an overflowing flood

He will make a complete end of its site,

And will pursue His enemies into darkness.

Ezekiel 7:1–13 (NASB 2020)

Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “And you, son of man, this is what the Lord God says to the land of Israel: ‘An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. Now the end is upon you, for I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you. And My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will know that I am the Lord!’

“This is what the Lord God says: ‘A disaster, a unique disaster, behold, it is coming! An end is coming; the end has come! It has awakened against you; behold, it has come! Your doom has come to you, you inhabitant of the land. The time has come, the day is near—panic rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. Now I will shortly pour out My wrath on you and expend My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring on you all your abominations. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare you. I will repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the Lord, am striking.

‘Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your doom has gone forth; the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed. Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their people, none of their wealth, nor anything eminent among them. The time has come, the day has arrived. Let neither the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for wrath is against all their multitude. Indeed, the seller will not regain what he sold as long as they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not be averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his wrongdoing.

Colossians 3:5–6 (NASB 2020)

Therefore, treat the parts of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,

Micah 5:15 (NASB 2020)

“And I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath

On the nations which have not obeyed.”

Isaiah 53:4–6 (NASB 2020)

However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore,

And our pains that He carried;

Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted,

Struck down by God, and humiliated.

But He was pierced for our offenses,

He was crushed for our wrongdoings;

The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him,

And by His wounds we are healed.

All of us, like sheep, have gone astray,

Each of us has turned to his own way;

But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all

To fall on Him.

Isaiah 53:10 “But the Lord desired To crush Him, causing Him grief; If He renders Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.”

Hebrews 10:26–31 (NASB 2020)

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has ignored the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

C. To put an end to all evil

Nahum 1:8–9 (NASB 2020)

But with an overflowing flood

He will make a complete end of its site,

And will pursue His enemies into darkness.

Whatever you devise against the Lord,

He will make a complete end of it.

Distress will not rise up twice.

Psalm 7:8–9 (NASB 2020)

The Lord judges the peoples;

Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.

Please let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous;

For the righteous God puts hearts and minds to the test.

Hebrews 10:12 “but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,”

Hebrews 10:13 (NASB 2020)

waiting from that time onward until His enemies are made a footstool for His feet.