Nahum

Major Lessons from Minor Prophets

Nahum Background.

Last week we looked at Jonah.

Jonah preached to the Ninavites and they listened and repented.

However 100 years later they had fallen back into evil.

God sent another prophet, Nahum to tell them to repent or perish.

they listned to Jonah, but unfortinatly they would not listen to Nahum.

Their sin and evil, while enjoyable for themslves had awakened something.

Something which should never be awakened.

It had awakned God’s anger.

Scripture warns us:

Hebrews 10:31 ESV

31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Niniveh was about to fall into the hands of the angry, jelous and vengful God.

and within just a few years of Nahums preaching, Ninivah would be attacked by Assyriah, a nation well known for their inhumaine brutality againsy others.

The peopkle would suffer in unbelievible ways and Nininah would be wiped off the map, remembered only in history books to this day.

A Warning: Do not arouse God’s Jelousy.

Nahum 1:2–8 ESV

2 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.

3 words i want to draw your attention to: Jelous, Anger and Vengence.

These 3 words describe God.

And what you must understand is that when describing God these words are NOT evil or sinful - they make up His Holiness.

Jelousy

Jelousy is a sin when it means being envious of what someone else has. But jelousy is NOT a sin when it means protecting what we already have.

A husband and wife ought to be jelous of each other because they want to keep their relationship pure and exclusive.

God made everything nd eveyone, he owns everything and everyone. So God’s jelously cannot be envious because there is nothing anyone has that God does not already own.

So what is God’s jelousy protecting?

His Glory

His Name

His Worship

His Honour.

Understand that the moment any of the above comes into question or compromise God’s Jelousy will be aroused because he will protect His name, glory, worship and honour at absolutly any cost.

This is a warning to us.

What goes through your mind when you see a nughty, cheecky, disobedience child? Well you dont blame the child, you blame the parents for raising the child to act that way.

The naughter child dishonors the parents.

The bible says so:

Proverbs 15:20 ESV

20 A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother.

So here is my question:

When you, as a christian, as a child of God, act and behave in a sinful, ungodly manner - whos honor is being called into question?

God’s. and you better watch out.

Vengence

In scripture vengence is shown to be inful when we do it.

Both Jesus and Paul warned us of it.

The reason it is sinful when we do it is simply because we ourselves are evil and just as guilty.

A thief cannot be angry at getting robbed.

A liar cannot get angry when he is lied too.

God however is perfect - sinless, so his vengence is not born out of hypocrasy but of holiness.

And God being holy and pure and perfect has no choice but to inflict his vengence on evil - if he does not he is guility of evil he passes over.

Let me give you an example:

I am sitting in the park. A young little child is playing on the slide.

Some old teenagers come over and start bullying the young child - to the point of hurting him.

Now if i see this, but take out my phone and sit there and just film it, what wouyld you think of me?

Buy not using my power and authority to put a stop to it i am just as guilty as those bullies.

God sees all. He sees all the evil and he warns:

Deuteronomy 32:35 ESV

35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’

Deuteronomy 32:41 ESV

41 if I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me.

Here is what i fear church. This fear has kept me awake many nights.

God is watching. He has been watching humanity since trhe begining.

He has seen every evil.

He has seen every life taken in war.

Every innocent person murdered.

He has seen woman be raped, children molested.

He has heard the silent cry of every poor baby torn apart limb by limb through abortion.

He is hard every lie, seen every betrayel, watch the backstabbing and heard every idle word of gossip.

And with each passing second God’s vengence grows and along with that does hisanger

Anger:

God’s anger is not like human anger.

The bible describes God’s anger as holy indignation.

Nahum 1:2 ESV

2 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.

Nahum 1:6 ESV

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.

When you combine such wrath with the fact that God is all powerful you should get terror.

Every single day that goes by the world should be thankful that God is slow to anger.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

God’s patience is like a dam wall.

The dame wall is protecting the town and the people that live in its shadow.

The problem is that the dam wall has a limit.

One day it starts raining, not hard but constantly.

The people in the village feel so safe behind the dam wall, but they cannot see what happening on the other side.

Scripture says:

Romans 2:5 ESV

5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

As it rains, the dam stors up more and more water, but the wall keep it at bay.

The problem is, one day, the villegers do not know when, but one day, the water level will be so high that the dam wall will break nd all the water that has been stored up will utterly decimate the village and all who are in it.

With each passing hour that God behold the wickedness and evil on this world his wrath is storing up behind his wall of patience: becsause he is slow to anger.

But one day - one day, the wall of Gof’s patience will come own and wrath, anger and vengence will rain down on earth.

And do not forget that the very agent of the Father wrath and indignation is the Lion of the tribe of Juah himself - Jesus Christ.

Revelation 19:11–16 ESV

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

What hope o we have?

Lets go back to Naham.

Nahum 1:7 ESV

7 The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.

There is a way to escape the anger, the wrath, the jelousy and the coming vengence.

Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:9 ESV

9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Before the dam wall of God’s patience breaks he will send a rescue helicopter.

Like the blood of the lamb saved God’s people in Egypt when they applied it to the door posts of their houses, so the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, will save us from wrath.

This rescue mission, where God takes his people out of the village before the wall breaks is known as the Rapture of the church.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 ESV

16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

as soon as this happends the wall will come down and will do all his wonders he promises.

He will open the 7 seals of his jelousy.

He will blow the 7 trumpets of his vengence and he will pour out the 7 bowls of His wrath.

Revelation 15:7 ESV

7 And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever,

Conclusion:

Be warned church and know this:

The fear of the Lord is the begining of wisdom.