The Promises of GodBible Reading:Nahum 1:7: The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. Nahum 1:7 is a verse that helps me sleep easier at night. I am thankful that God has provided in His word these promises. There are other verses similar to Nahum 1:7 that offer the blessed assurance of God. As the song says we can stand on the promises of God. Why? Because God stands behind His promises. We can trust in Jesus. This makes many a Christian feel at ease. Yet if we think about it there are promises that God has made that upset some of today’s church. These promises also make the unsaved feel uneasy. Notice I said unsaved and not the unbelievers. I believe there are no unbelievers. If there were why would they use a name in vain that they do not believe in? Why don’t they use Peter Pan or Yoda? Still there is a promise that God has made that we do not like to think about. And if a Christian falls into that group then this book is not very popular. For you see, the rest of Nahum deals with this subject. God's Wrath and Judgment. Though many try to ignore this attribute, it is still an attribute of God. I can choose to ignore God, but he still EXISTS. I can choose to ignore my electric bill but what happens? God's Wrath and Judgment. It exists. It is real. It is necessary. And within Nahum it is stated so strongly and so concisely it can not be denied. This morning we will realize together that to truly know who God is, we have to include all of his nature. We must have a full picture of the one we serve. We have to open our eyes to who God really is. To do that we must understand and learn all aspects of what makes God, God. God is more than a loving God. For God so LOVED the world that he GAVE His ONLY begotten son. Praise Jesus. He more than just a merciful God - but he is merciful! Ps 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. Ps 116:5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. Hallelujah! He is more than just a gracious God. But He is so ever Gracious. Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Titus 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Blessed is the precious name of Jesus. Without the grace of God we are all lost. God is all those things! He is loving, He is merciful, and He is gracious. Listen to me folks and please pay attention to this. To be able to show grace, to be able to show mercy, for us to see His love, there must be an offense to show mercy to. To give grace and pardon, there must be a judgment of being found guilty. There must be a sin to lovingly forgive. For without Sin why would grace be necessary? Romans 6:1: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God is the Great Judge. We all know there have been many good judges both past and present – both now and in biblical times. And from these adjudicators, fair and impartial judgments have been rendered. While these mortal men struggle at times to remain impartial and insure justice. God‘s judgment is pure and always just. It is true to His divine nature. If there is a need for punishment within His judgment, it is always true and just. So when the wrath or judgment of God is given, it has come out of fairness and from His Holiness. When God's anger is kindled and judgment falls, there is always fairness and justice in it. God’s pure and holy nature demands fairness. God is equitable. Nahum has 3 chapters, 47 verses, and 1345 words. Genesis by comparison contains 50 chapters, 1356 verses, and 40,182 words. Nahum is prophetic and historic. Genesis is prophetic and historic Genesis helps us discover the nature of man. Nahum helps discover the nature of God. To get a background on this book we must see where God’s judgment is placed. Let us stop and think for a moment. Do you remember the name of the nation to whom Jonah was sent? The country is Nineveh. Jonah 1:1-2: Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. Jonah 3:4-10: And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. This is the very same nation now Nahum is sent some 100 years later. Nahum 1:1: The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. Burden here is the same as in Isaiah: Judgment. Jonah is about God’s Love. Jonah 4:11: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? Were the Ninevites stupid? No. God is talking about children here! Matthew tells us: Matthew 19:14: But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. While Jonah was about love Nahum is about JUSTICE. As we will see today they both go together. Now, Nineveh is the same nation whom had repented of their great sin almost a century before. They have now repented of their repentance. Let’s go over this again. The Ninevites repented of their repentance - today we would say they backslid. In Nahum God's judgment is prophesied again. His wrath has now been rekindled towards this same nation and against a man named, Sennacherib. Within Nahum you can find a pattern regarding God's Judgment and His terrible Wrath. These are the four basic points contained within Nahum that describe the Wrath of Our God. God's Wrath Is Terrible - 1:1-7 God's Wrath Is Personal - 1:8-15 God's Wrath Is Thorough - 2:1 - 3:11 God's Wrath Is Irresistible - 3:12-19 God's Wrath Is Terrible Nahum 1:2-3: God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. Jealous is exclusive devotion. God is devoted to us and He demands that from us. Jealousy in a relationship is not bad in all cases. For example a person who would not share their body or love with another and demands that of their spouse is jealous in a good way. When I think about This side of God I see not only is our God great and awesome, but he is slow to anger. God spared Nineveh once. Now, they have turned back on God, a second time. They returned to their old sinful and idolatrous ways. In 100 years this country grew strong and powerful. They had the cruelest army's ever and had burned one city after another, destroyed, plundered, and killed. So God, now uses this man Nahum, His prophet, to warn them a second time. You see, God is just, He punishes the wicked but He is slow to anger. When God's wrath does fall, it falls hard, and it terrible to witness. But we must see, for if we see only the Love of God we miss His fairness. And if we only see this one side of God our picture of Him will be out of focus. We will not be able to understand the full nature of God. For to be just, he must judge fairly, and to judge he must pronounce sentence on those whom are found guilty and wanting. So God sends Nahum. Nahum describes God’s Wrath that is coming to this nation and Sennacherib. Nahum 1:2-6: God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. Oh, the terribleness of God's wrath, that falls upon the guilty, whom repent not! God's Wrath Is Personal We also see that God's wrath is personal, which again we today find really hard to believe. We must understand that God's wrath can be directed at a person or a nation, but in the next 3 verses we see to whom this directed. First, to a nation. Nahum 1:8-10: But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. This nation who is now under God's judgment, He will not allow them to rise up twice. Do you see that? "What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. Now we come to the person, Sennacherib. This is the great king, the great general who has sweep over the nations and is now in Israel and has destroyed all cities but Jerusalem. Nahum 1:1: There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counsellor. The Bible records the invasion of Sennacherib into the nation in Isaiah 36 and 37 as well as II Kings 18. It records that after destroying the nations and cities like Lakish, he finally comes to Jerusalem. Sennacherib sends a letter to King Hezekiah. It basically tells the people that He will conquer and their God will not stop him. But Sennacherib, has been judged and God's wrath is about to fall on him and his armies. Nahum 1:12-14: Thus saith the LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder. And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile. The Bible tells us that Sennacherib STANDS JUDGED. Isaiah 37:36-37: Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. His army melts away. He runs home to safety, or so He thinks. Now the prophesy regarding his death comes true. While praying in his temple this man, Sennacherib, is killed by his two sons. 2Kings 19:35-36: And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. Sounds good to Isaiah, huh? Now, an ending to God’s judgment 2 Kings 37: And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. God's Wrath Is Thorough Every prophesy of Nahum came true. History records, when compared to the events recorded in Nahum, go hand in hand. You see, when God judges and His Wrath is upon a nation or a person, it is completed when there is no repentance. One day of grace ends when a day of doom comes and you may think you reach place where no healing is possible. You might think that the grace of god cannot reach you, you cannot reach god because of barriers you erected, or because your heart is hardened and in unbelief. These statements are true for a nation and true for an individual. God's Wrath Is Irresistible Nineveh is warned in Nahum about the coming judgment. Why warn them? To show others, that God is a "Great and Mighty God," and that sin must be punished. The Wrath of God will fall. Since we are all sinners how can we escape this Great Judgment? It is found in Nahum 1:7. Nahum 1:7: The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. In the midst of God's Wrath, something we can stand on God’s promise, our saving Grace. We must seek refuge in God. We must confess our sins. No one who turns to God and seeks Him and accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior will ever experience this great wrath. Yet: Hebrews 12:6 and 8: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. No sin goes unpunished. A Christian is not punisghed by spiritual death! 2 Chronicles 7:14: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Jesus said to a man who was knowledgeable about religion: John 3:18-20: He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. God is good. Thank you, Jesus for loving me. He is there when I need him. Anything God does is right!!! God is still in charge. God is not nervous. He is not worried. He will do it with or without you. God will destroy any Godless nation, he will judge any Godless man. Put up an umbrella of sin and the light of God will not shine. What does your apostasy do to your testimony? What does it do to the decision of unbelievers that know you? Back to Hope Chapel
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