God of All

You may be familiar with the story of Jonah and the great fish which swallowed him. Jonah was commanded by God to preach about Him to the Ninevites, the mortal enemies of Jonah’s people. Jonah refused and attempted to flee. En route to Tarshish, the place furthest away on the mpa from Nineveh, God disciplined Jonah, commanded a great fish to swallow him, then deliver him to the shores leading to Nineveh. Against Jonah’s liking, the Ninevites repented and worshipped the Lord.

This is fascinating and important for more than one reason. It shows that Yahweh is not just the God of the Israelites with power and impact only in their nation. He’s the God of All, without borders, and He redeems who He elects to be redeemed.

You may have heard of this story. It’s an incredibly common story for children to learn during Sunday school. But then we sort of leave the story there and it isn’t often brought up again in our Sunday morning adult worship hour.

The tale of Jonah is worth looking over with an adult lens. While we do not have it planned to deep dive the book of Jonah this morning, I wanted to challenge you to read the book again. I wonder if some of the details you remember are a bit more ghastly in actuality. It’s a story of Jonah’s lack of obedience. God’s course of action to correct Jonah and use Him anyhow. It’s the story of a patient God who redeems. It’s the story of a just God who judges. It shows a frail, stubborn human who believes he knows and can do better than the Lord. We can learn a lot from the book of Jonah.

Did you know that whole episode in the book of Jonah is only part of the tale? Did you know that just a couple books of the Bible later is the second part to the story of Jonah and the big fish?

The book of Nahum is about the tale of a second prophet from God sent to the Ninevites. His name was, Nahum.

Why Nineveh?

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire. The Assyrians were known for their brutality of other nations, and were leveling attacks and abuse toward the nation of Judah.

Some background on the Israelites. A few generations after king David, the nation split into two kingdoms. Judah to the south and Israel to the North. The Kingdom of Judah was faithful to the line of David and the Kingdom of Israel was not. Remember that God’s covenant continued throug the line of David. The northern kingdom brought in a new king and were generally unfaithful to the Lord. They worshipped idols and false gods and attempted to make their own holy sites apart from what the Lord had already establish in Jerusalem, which was in the nation of Judah.

In fact, the New Testament mentions a group of people called the Samaritans. The Samaritans inhabited Samaria, the land to the north of the Israelites. Remember the story of the Good Samaritan and how shocking it was that a Samaritan would help a Jew. The Samaritans are the descendants of those people who formed the northern nation of Israel. So the bad blood between the Samaritans and the Jews was serious and deeply rooted by the time of the New Testament.

The Lord already used the Assyrians to judge and overtake the nation of Israel for their faithlessness and idolatry, but now that Assyria turned its eyes and attacks to Judah, got sent in Nahum to bring warning of destruction on the Assyrians.

Nahum 1:1-13 1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh. 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. 5The 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. 10 For they are like entangled thorns, like drunkards as they drink; they are consumed like stubble fully dried. 11 From you came one who plotted evil against the LORD, a worthless counselor. 12 Thus says the LORD, “Though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. 13 And now I will break his yoke from off you and will burst your bonds apart.”

1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

As we read this oracle as it’s called, it’s important to understand that God was saying this to both the Assyrians and the people of Judah. This was a note of destruction for the Assyrian and a note of deliverance for His people. In fact, the language of the oracle goes in and out of addressing the Assyrians and the Jews.

An oracle is a divine utterance given to man. It appears that Nahum received these words of God in a vision.

Why don’t people see visions today? It could be because God has revealed all that is necessary for believers to continue living for the Lord. We have God’s completed Word which tells us matters of the future.

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.

The difference between jealousy and covetousness is important to understand. Covetousness is sin as stated in the 10 Commandments. Covetousness includes wrongful desire over something that is not yours. Jealousy is when you desire something that is yours but is not currently in your possession.

So the Lord is jealous, He desires to have that which is already His when those people who are His decide to worship false gods.

We also see even more truth about the nature of God. The Bible describes Him as being wrathful. But we have to take this verse with the context of the following verse. God is wrathful after being slow to anger. This concept goes back to judgment for sin. All are guilty of it. All should receive their just punishment which is death. God’s wrath is God’s judgment, which is simply people receiving what they deserve. His judgment is as fierce, quick and serious as wrath.

Who are God’s enemies? Anyone who does not acknowledge Him as their God. Those are the people who receive God’s wrath, His judgment.

Take note of God’s great power and how His wrath and judgment shows. Through whirlwind and storm. When God steps down to crush, clouds bearing torrential disaster follow as step after a step.

Verses four through seven resemble God’s converstaion centuries earlier with Job. He goes on to display His amazing qualities, reminding the reader and the listener that God sovereignly reigns over all.

4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. 5The 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.

First Congregational Church needs to be a group of people who take refuge in the Lord. We need to source all of our actions on the Word of God. We need to find comfort only in the Lord, not in other things. Finding comfort in other things is idolatry.

For us to take refuge in the Lord we need to be convinced that He is Who He says He is as documented in the Bible. We need to be Bible people. We have to read it and agree with it. We need to not only agree with it, but we have to believe it. We have to not only believe it, we have to act based on it.

8 But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

Far be it that First Congregational Church will ever in our future be adversaries to the Lord. We are to never oppose Gospel ministry. We are to never support anything contrary to the Word of God. We have to draw lines on big ticket issues in our culture and boldly claim where we stand. Not hiding in fear. Not being afraid of repercussions. Remember verse 7, God is our refuge. What can people ever do to us? Let them threaten, kick, scream. We must agree as a group of worshippers to choose God’s side and we must be of one mind. Afterall, verse 9…

9 What do you plot against the LORD? He will make a complete end; trouble will not rise up a second time.

10 For they are like entangled thorns, like drunkards as they drink; they are consumed like stubble fully dried.

11 From you came one who plotted evil against the LORD, a worthless counselor.

To plot against the Almighty is pointless, worthless. Verse 12 says,

12 Thus says the LORD, “Though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. 13 And now I will break his yoke from off you and will burst your bonds apart.”

With verse 13 God speaks to His people about deliverance. Our God, the deliverer.

When we read this text and know the context, how can anyone see anything but a patient, longsuffering, loving God? The most common critique from people is that “God is brutal. He utterly destroyed entire kingdoms of people. That cannot be a loving God.” This is the opinion of a lazy mind who won’t investigate the facts of the text for themselves. They hear a soundbite or read a small portion and then go with that. The Bible needs to understood in its entirety because it carries one message and is one story. The person who picks up the BIble and reads the book of Nahum may be tempted to think that God is brutal and evil and unloving. What they don’t realize is that 100 years before God sent Nahum to deliver a message of punishment and condemnation, God sent Jonah with a message of repentance. God shows the Assyrians in the past who He is and they worshipped Him! In fact, God sending Nahum is yet another chance for the Assyrians to realize their wrongs. God has a covenant with the people of Judah, that He is their God and He protects and provides for people. Seeking to destroy God’s people like the Assyrians were means that you go up against the one true God.