Monday, June 20, 2016

As we concluded our study of the book of Jonah we saw how God reached out to the city of Nineveh, close to the modern city of Mosul in Iraq, the capital of the Assyrian empire, with a message of judgment. When they repented and humbled themselves before God He lovingly “had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened” (Jonah 3:10). Unfortunately, over the next hundred years they, in the words of Paul in Romans 2:4-5, stored up wrath against themselves for the day of God’s wrath when his righteous judgment would be revealed. What they eventually experienced is described in the prophetic book of Nahum. Two truths to note in Nahum’s message are, first, God is slow to anger, and second, God is jealous. There is a point beyond which His anger is kindled into a flaming fire which devours and totally destroys. Imbedded within this prophecy are a few verses in which God promises to protect those who take refuge in Him. But the overriding emphasis is that He will woefully punish those who persistently rebel against Him. It is foolish to carelessly forget God’s gracious forgiveness in the past and ignore God’s warning in the present, testing God’s patience and love. Arrogantly crossing God’s red line is a challenge to God’s righteous jealousy. Trust Him and you will be safe. Test Him and you will be scorched. Let me encourage you to read the three short chapters of Nahum with these thoughts in mind and then follow along in our study of this book.