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Notices
Nahum 1.1-11
We are beginning today a new sermon series on the prophet Nahum. Nahum was a prophet to Israel in the middle of the 7th century BC. Little is actually known about Nahum himself. He is mentioned in verse 1 and the only other reference to him is in the gospel of Luke. Some scholars think he may have come from Capernaum because the translation of that name means 'town of Nahum.' The book of Nahum speaks eloquently of God's judgment, justice and salvation. To the suffering remnant of Israel there was little question that God would punish and did punish His covenant people; but whether He was equally able and willing to impart justice to heathen nations surrounding Israel was untested. The political and military world of Nahum was dominated by Assyria, with Nineveh its most important fortified city. In this book the severity and the kindness of God are both under scrutiny.
I want to say to you at the beginning of this series that it will not be a comfortable series to listen to. The reason I say that is because many, far too many, Christians have a nice cosy image of God in their heads. They have this image, maybe unconsciously, of a white haired and bearded grandfather figure who laughs a lot and who would never really get angry with anyone. Almost a 'Santa Claus' like figure. The book of Nahum will shatter that image of God. So be prepared and warned.
Turn with me to chapter 1 verses 1-11.
Verse 1 - a simple introduction informing us as to the author, Nahum, his family background, Elkoshite, and the content of the book - an oracle (or burden) concerning Nineveh. Nahum is exercising the office of a prophet in the nation of Israel and the 'vision' is from God, not from himself. Therefore it comes with divine power and authority through divine revelation.
Verses 2-8 are in the form of a Psalm or hymn. They are descriptive of the actions of God.
Verses 2-3. Verse 2 lays the foundation for the whole prophecy of Nahum and what follows is rooted in this revelation of god's justice and His burning zeal on behalf of His people.
Nahum begins with the nature of God and he takes words from Exodus 34 and God's self-revelation to Moses. We find it hard to understand how God could be a jealous God. Jealousy is not something we would be proud of in our lives. Yet it states clearly here that God is a jealous God. Unfortunately when we think of jealousy we think of something petty and selfish. God's jealousy is not petty but is concerned with His glory and His rightful place in the hearts and lives of people. The jealousy spoken of here is of God's deep and fiercely protective commitment to His people and His exclusive claim to their obedience and reciprocal commitment to Him (Deut. 4.24; 5.9). God is jealous because His commitment to them is total and He desires the same from them in return. So when they go off after other gods or break His covenant Law He is jealous. That is why in Scripture the relationship between God and His people is often described as a marriage. A marriage is intended to be exclusive. Two people totally committed to one another to the exclusion of all others. Nothing and no one should come between a husband and wife and if something/someone does then 'jealousy' is the correct response.
The second line of verse 2 we may have even more difficulty with if we carry around an image of a 'soft gentle God.' Nahum tells the people of Israel that God is vengeful and filled with wrath. Again we can misunderstand these words. We must remember that the background to all that God is saying through Nahum is the Sinai covenant where God committed Himself to Israel and Israel committed herself to God. We also must see what the word vengeance meant in the day of Nahum. Today we think of someone getting private retribution for some perceived or actual wrong. Yet if we put the word in its Sinai covenant context we realise that when God speaks of Himself as having vengeance He is speaking of His judgment on behalf of His people and not private retaliation. God's vengeance is grounded in His holiness and His abhorrence of sin and injustice. His vengeance is not revenge, it is not getting even but an exercise of holy justice on behalf of the oppressed people of God.
Nahum also speaks of God being filled with wrath. Many people have a problem with the idea that God would ever be angry or filled with wrath. God's wrath is an intense and passionate feeling and is the outworking of His jealousy. It is not indiscriminate rage. It is not unpredictable nor does it flail around destroying all it comes into contact with. It is His holy indignation which moves to eradicate every obstacle to commitment to Him and His will. It is a divine characteristic that every man must face whenever He breaks the proper limits of His relationship with God. Please hear me when I say this - to deny God's wrath is deny the reality of judgment and the necessity of atonement. Let me repeat that so you are clear - to deny God's wrath is to deny the reality of judgment and the necessity of atonement. To deny God's wrath is to deny the reality of the cross and the necessity of the death of Christ to atone for your sins.
Verse 3 - the Lord's anger is balanced by His patience. God is slow to anger - praise God for that this morning. He has been slow to anger with your sin this past week. The Lord God's restraint is not born out of weakness or meekness but out of love for His people. It is an example of His awesome love and His awesome power. Please do not misunderstand this as passivity. It is the greatest folly of sinful people to believe that because God has tarried in His judgement that He is indifferent to their sin. God is not indifferent to our sin as verse 2 has shown us. Power is paired with patience in the living God and yet Nahum warns He will not leave sin unpunished. Those who are guilty will not go unpunished. The people of Assyria/Nineveh may think that they have escaped the wrath of God for their actions against the people of God but God will not let it go. God never forgets the injustice or the oppression of His people and He does not let it go unpunished. God passes nothing by and all sin will be accounted for. All sin will be punished.
Now we move to the awesome revelation of the power of God to bring about justice, vengeance and the coming of His wrath. When God reveals Himself all nature is stirred. Remember the setting of this prophecy - the OT Sinai covenant. When God displayed His awesome presence to the people of God all nature was stirred. The presence of God shook the foundations of the earth, the whirlwind and storm announced His presence. These things with their awesome power and their destructive force merely revealed God's footsteps. Awesome and all as these signs of nature were, they were not God, but merely a sign to His people of His presence. How awesome is God? As soon as God reveals Himself the whole atmosphere is disturbed. When God turns His face away darkness descends. When God turns His back on His only beloved Son darkness covers the earth. When God turns His face from you then darkness descends in your life. When God turns His back on a church then darkness descends on that church. How awesome is God that the very dust from His footsteps clouds over the glories of the heavens?
Verses 4-5.
Nahum continues with the imagery of the power of God manifested in, over and through creation. Nahum reveals to the people that there is nothing so majestic in this world that God's majesty does not surpass it and there is nothing powerful in this world that God cannot subdue it with His presence. As we read in the NT: At the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess Jesus is Lord! The Sea dries up before Him. A river drying up is nothing out of the ordinary but the sea drying up is something awesome in power. The cedars of Lebanon were considered one of the greatest things in the ANE and yet they are nothing in majesty compared to God. The mountains seemed so solid and unmoveable and yet they shake before the presence of God. The earth trembles in His presence and therefore how would the Assyrians dare to stand. I do not know the enemies that loom large in your life this morning. I do not know the mountains that stand before you casting a dark shadow over your life today. I don't know what sea lies before you blocking your path ahead. Yet in the presence of God they are nothing. When God walks the sea dries up, the mountains shake and the very earth trembles. There is no sea, no mountain nor enemy in your life that can stand in the presence of the living God. Does He not have the right to jealous of your love and your life this morning? How awesome is the God we worship today?
Verses 6 is a summary of verses 2-5. Nahum asks two rhetorical questions which are meant to receive negative answers. The two questions are meant also to reassure the people of God in the midst of their exile in Assyria. No one will stand before God when He moves to defend His people. Hear that this morning and take great comfort from it but also fear those words if God is coming against you because you are not one of His people today.
Verses 7-8 - I think this must be one of the most wonderful verses in all of Nahum. What words of comfort and reassurance to an oppressed and exiled people. The basic tenet of this is that God is good. God is good, all the time, all the time, God is good because that is His nature. God is a 'refuge' for His people. He is the strong tower, the fortified city the means of protection. It is God Himself who is the hiding place. I don't know where you run to when you are afraid or uncertain. I loved my grandfather's house. Nowhere on this earth ever seemed as safe and secure as my grandfather's house. No one ever seemed as strong to me as my grandfather. No one ever seemed as wise or as godly as my grandfather. In his wisdom his final words to me were to keep close to Jesus and everything in life would be fine. Nahum tells me God is your refuge - in Him is safety and protection from trouble because He cares for you. God, this awesome vengeful God, this God of wrath whose very presence melts mountains and shatters rocks cares for you. How amazing are those words? This all powerful God cares for you. He has this immense power and yet He cares for you and Nahum calls us this morning to put our trust in Him. Trust is often misplaced. Look around you at the financial markets - we trusted the bankers etc - vain trust. Misplaced trust. Here is grace vast as the oceans. In the midst of verses of judgment and the awesome wrath of God we meet the grace of God. He cares for those who trust in Him. He is their safe place, their place of refuge midst the storm of His judgment. As the hymn writer says 'Here is grace and love like mighty rivers flowing from above….kissing a guilty world in love.'
Verses 9-11
Nahum finishes this section of his vision with once again showing the awesome power of God and the powerlessness of the enemies of God before Him. Their enemies may plot and plan against the people of God but in their folly they do not realise they are plotting against God Himself. God's goodness does not obviate His coming judgment and He will judge those who plot against Him. Judgment is directed against those who refuse to submit to His rule and who are both His foes and the oppressors of His people. As long as evil exists God's judgment is an inevitable expression of His goodness on behalf of its victims. God will bring it to an end and the people of God will know their oppression and trouble no more. God will reduce them to nothing before His presence and the people of God will know peace and relief from this oppression.
In verse 11 it is revealed why God is so angry. Assyria ha plotted against God and counselled wickedness. Many scholars associate this verse with Sennacherib (2 Kings 18-19). The word for the man who 'counsels wickedness' is 'Belial' in the Hebrew. In 2 Corinthians 6.15 Paul says that Christ and Belial have nothing in common. Nahum tells the people of God that there are those who consult against God and who plot wickedness against the people of God. These men may not realise they are plotting against God but when they do it to the least of one of these they do it against God. God has set Himself up as a shield and a defender of His people and when these men come against the people of God they encounter God first. They may not realise they have set themselves against God but that is what the Word of God says they have done. Belial is a man in whom there is no integrity and whose depravity knows no depth. You may not see yourself as that man this morning. But let me ask you some questions: Have you plotted against Christians? Have you spoken with derision against people who live according to God's Word? Have you dismissed Christians because of the way they choose to live or what they have said concerning Christ? Have you roasted the preacher on Sunday because you didn't like what he said from the pulpit? Been gossiping against other Christians lately? Been plotting lately?
That verse comes very close to home for us all at times.
Nahum - it is not a very well known prophecy and as I said at the beginning I think it will be an uncomfortable but profitable journey as we go through it. It is a book of judgment but also of great encouragement and I believe in the providence of God Holy Trinity needs to hear both this term. Amen.
