The Storm is Coming

Big Idea: God is slow to anger but not blind to evil.

Introduce Series: Storm warning. Fitting for this time of year. We are going to be walking through three passages from the minor prophets and how they, like a weather alert, were sending out a warning for everybody that God was on His way! It reminds me of this—watch video:

Hook: Tombstone Video. Tombstone loosely follows the story of the OK Corral. The hero of the story, Wyatt Earp, is warning the antagonist, Johnny Ringo—who has terrorized the town of Tombstone in many different ways, that he would now be bringing justice. God gives a warning to the Assyrians through his prophet Nahum that he has witnessed their injustice, and their day would be coming to an end.

Introduction: Nahum is a three chapter long Minor Prophet. The Assyrians were a violent and powerful nation that took over a large portion of the known world, including the nation of Israel. They were brutal and vicious in ways that had not really been witnessed before. God had witnessed this injustice and would not allow it to go on any longer.

I. The Wrath of God

About 100 years after Jonah preached on the streets of Nineveh Nahum declares the sovereignty of God who punishes whom he will, and all are powerless to stop Him. Nahum is preaching to the people of Judah who can rejoice at the good news of the impending fall of Nineveh and the Assyrians.

Nahum 1:2–6 ESV

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. 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. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it. 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.

It’s important to understand why God is described as jealous and avenging.

Tony Evans in his commentary puts it like this:

The Tony Evans Bible Commentary I. The Declaration of Judgment (1:1–15)

In view here is not the kind of wicked jealousy or envy that the Bible condemns in sinners (e.g.,

God has the right to be jealous when He is the only true God and people are wasting their worship on false gods, carved idols, and demons. No one else deserves that glory and it is being cast away. At the same time, he is avenging towards the injustice at His people and when He sees it fit, He will intervene.

Romans 12:19 ESV

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

this verse reminds us our attitude towards vengeance is not to seek it for ourselves but leave it to God. Whose anger when it burns storms, dries up seas, shakes the earth, and causes the earth to heave.

We cannot separate the wrath of God from our understanding of God. But we need to have an accurate understanding of it and align it with all we know of what is true of God, and that He is also good.

II. God is Good

Nahum 1:7–8 ESV

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

This would be a very comforting message to the people of Judah, knowing that the persecution they have faced would come to an end and be dealt with.

You don’t want to be on His bad side, but there’s no denying He is good. He is a storm and a force to His enemies but a stronghold to His people.

When we contemplate God being just, many questions often come up. People have issues with some of these and it can cause doubt. People often want to know why a good God would allow things like war, famine, or sickness. People wonder why any bad things happen in the world where a good God is supposed to be ruling. But a just and all-knowing God, while not dealing with all of these atrocities in our time, we can know that He will deal with them in the best time to the extent that it needs to be dealt with.

This passage, while referring directly to the fall of the Assyrians in 612 BC, also reminds us that God will ultimately consume all evil in His return and final judgement. He will remove and pursue enemies until they are no more, and that is our hope as believers. We can put our hope in the future reign of King Jesus.

When we look to know our God, we can reconcile that He is both wrathful, avenging and good. Nahum let the people know that God was on His way, that the storm was coming, for those with Him he is a stronghold, to His enemies He is a force that they will not be able to withstand.

Pray and dismiss.