Make me a Channel of your Peace
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
The Burden against Nineveh
The Burden against Nineveh
I was texting recently with Val who faithfully attends our church events online.
Val wrote to me about the book of Nahum, after we looked at Jonah, as it also is a message against Nineveh.
Nahum is the 7th of those called minor prophets.
We don’t know much about him
It says he was from El-Ko-shite.
We are not sure where that is
For our scripture reading today lets turn to Nahum 1:1-3
You will find Nahum just after Micah and before Habakkuk.
Towards the end of what we call the Old Testament.
1 The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 2 God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; The Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies; 3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
Then turning to Nahum 1:15,
15 Behold, on the mountains The feet of him who brings good tidings, Who proclaims peace! O Judah, keep your appointed feasts, Perform your vows. For the wicked one shall no more pass through you; He is utterly cut off.
Bricks through Windows
Bricks through Windows
I still remember the incident clearly. We had gathered at the small church for mid-week prayer meeting. As just as we began the meeting, there was a loud crash
I wonder what bricks are being thrown through your windows?
And the Lord is saying, Be still, and Know I am God
Be assured, the Lord draws a line in the sand for those who call on His name
The Burden of Nahum
The Burden of Nahum
Nahum It is one of those books that comes alive as we better understand the context and the content of his “burden”
Nineveh being the capital of the then dominant Assyrian Empire.
Nahum is the 7th of those called the minor prophets.
Nahum’s burden against Nineveh comes after Jonah’s ministry to Nineveh.
Nineveh being the capital of the then dominant Assyrian Empire.
Nineveh Bible Timeline
Nineveh Bible Timeline
If you like historic dates, I do as well.
The Fall of Nineveh to the Babylonians took place in 612 BC
7 It shall come to pass that all who look upon you Will flee from you, and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste! Who will bemoan her?’ Where shall I seek comforters for you?”
We know Nahum was written prior to this date as he says it is yet to come.
The fall of Thebes, the capital of upper Egypt, to the Assyrians is dated to around 663 BC
8 Are you better than No Amon That was situated by the River, That had the waters around her, Whose rampart was the sea, Whose wall was the sea?
Nahum was written after this date, as he mentions the fall had happened.
So we know Nahum received this burden from the Lord sometime after 663 and before 612 BC, probably towards 620.
Judah Alone
Judah Alone
But there is more context here for Nahum.
It is far to say that Nahum is equally a message of comfort to Judah.
The bricks from Assyria were continually coming down on Judah
Deliverance by God of Jerusalem under Hezekiah.
Fortified cities fell.
Jerusalem alone
Assyria invaded and destroyed Northern Israel around 722 BC, leaving Judah and Benjamin alone among the tribes of Israel and under constant threat from Assyria, from the North.
Jonah was sent to Nineveh prior to that, some 50 years prior, and as we know that Nineveh repented.
But a century later Nineveh had fully backslidden, and the patience of God was fast running out.
Soon Assyria would face what ii had dome to so many other peoples and tribes.
We often reap what we sow, unless we throw ourselves on the mercy of God.
For those who cannot listen, they must feel.
I hope this give us some understanding of the burden of Nahum, which is God’s burden against Nineveh, and God’s comfort for Judah that stands alone.
The Lord is slow to anger, but will not at all acquit the wicked
The Lord is slow to anger, but will not at all acquit the wicked
2 God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; The Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies; 3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
The burden against Nineveh is dramatically described in the opening verses of Nahum.
The Lord is Jealous
The Lord is furious
The Lord avenges
The Lord reserves wrath for his enemies.
The Lord is great in power
The Lord will not at all acquit the wicked.
This is dramatic
As we preach and teach about the love of God and the Gospel, we dare not neglect what is called that unusal act of God, his utter righteous hatred and judgement of sin.
As deep and wide as God’s love is for us, so is his anger and hatred of sin.
The Lord is a consuming fire in the presence of sin.
The only reason we are not consumed at this very moment is due to his mercy and patience.
Time and time again we see God’s wrath and judgement coming forth against cities and nations in the Bible, in history, as shadows and warnings, of what is to come at the time of the end and with the final judgement before sin is eradicated.
The Burden of Jesus
The Burden of Jesus
The new Covenant never contradicts the old one, it fulfils it
Whatever it will be like for unbelievers they face the time of trouble, the big time of trouble, the final judgement before God and finally utter and everlasting destruction by our God who is a consuming fire against sin, Jesus took all that and more on himself on the Cross and we get small glimpse into that in his words at Gethsemane.
33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
Jesus soul was overwhelmed.
Jesus says so.
Jesus had been moving towards his ultimate calling.
Setting His face towards Jerusalem.
But now in the Garden, Jesus is overwhelmed
He begins to shrink from the cup of God’s wrath against sin
Luther says, “Nobody ever feared death like Jesus feared death. For no one would ever die a death like this man.”
“He went to the outer limits of human endurance, so close to the absolute limit that he was almost overwhelmed”
The Lord is Jealous
The Lord is furious
The Lord avenges
The Lord wrath for his enemies.
The Lord will not at all acquit the wicked.
Jesus became Nineveh. Jesus became the worst of the worst at the cross.
For no man ever died or suffered like this man
Jesus took on himself the burden against Egypt, the burden against Assyria, the burden against Babylon, the burden against Israel, the burden against Judea, the burden against Greece, the burden against Rome, the burden against the 10 toes, the burden against the 10 horns, the burden against the little horn, and so much more.
Most important, Jesus took on himself the burden against me
He nailed it to the cross
He cried it is finished.
And He call each of us to identify yourself with me, in my death, in my new life, in all of my salvation for you.
Jesus says,
15 Behold, on the mountains The feet of him who brings good tidings, Who proclaims peace! O Judah, keep your appointed feasts, Perform your vows. For the wicked one shall no more pass through you; He is utterly cut off.
But if we refuse such a salvation, if we treat as a light things these things, all that is left is a fearful expectation of judgement.
The burden remains on us.
Be Still, and Know I am God
Be Still, and Know I am God
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Bricks coming through my Windows
My Utmost for His Highest October 7th—Reconciliation
The first thing Jesus Christ faced in men was the heredity of sin, and it is because we have ignored this in our presentation of the Gospel that the message of the Gospel has lost its sting and its blasting power.
Our whole lives now are on the basis of this great salvation truth. What Christ has done for us is deal with the heredity of sin in us, its power over us and the consequences of it. The call is for us to live in the light of this, worthy of the new birth and sonship. To live in the light of Christ. He is the light of the world. Anything other contradicts what Christ’s salvation means (1 Cor 15:10). Christ gives us “root cause salvation”. It is offer to all. As a continuous growing experience, based on a one time, for all time, for all people, act of redemption.
Special Music
Special Music
Make me a channel of your Peace (Janna)