2017-10-20 - Two Tales of a City

Originally Published 2013-09-27

A few years ago a student asked me why we never studied some books of The Bible. His question convicted me, and I asked him to pick one he never heard. It was Haggai so that week I prayed over that small book and the next week I preached on Haggai. That message began our group on a journey of identity which landed us with the name PYRO and everything that name entails.

I got to thinking about that question again this week. If the entire Bible is there for our benefit, why don’t we preach on all of it? Am I guilty of saying one thing and doing something else? Do I shy away from passages and not preach the whole word? So I picked another minor prophet and read it. I selected Obadiah, but as I studied it I realized that I had covered that one just a year or so ago as well, so I went looking for another that I had not yet covered. And that is where Nahum entered the picture.

I searched a website I often use to see what others have preached on a passage, and while for John 1:1 I got 534 hits, I got only one tenth of that for the entire book of Nahum.

The tale of Nahum is really a tale of Nineveh. This is the same Nineveh that one hundred fifty years earlier had been called to repentance by the less-than-willing Jonah. Nahum is a not a story of repentance but a book of judgment. Evidently as the years became decades and those became centuries, the Ninevites turned away and became wicked once more. As such the book it is mostly doom and gloom with a few positive nuggets scattered in it like Nahum 1:7

Nahum 1:7 (NASB) - The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him.

We see three things about God here. We see God's personality. He is good. We also know God's power. He is a stronghold in times of trouble. I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. We can also see God's perceptiveness. He knows who take refuge in him, those who trust him. But just as he knows who is with him, he knows who is against him.

Nahum 1:8,12 (NASB)

8. But with an overflowing flood
   He will make a complete end of its site,
   And will pursue His enemies into darkness.

12. Thus says the Lord,
    "Though they are at full strength and likewise many,
    Even so, they will be cut off and pass away.
    Though I have afflicted you,
    I will afflict you no longer.

Verse eight reveals God's pursuit as he chases his enemies into the darkness. Verse 12 shows the fearful side of God's power. Yes he can protect those who trust in him as a stronghold but here his power goes against others that are at full strength and they are cut off and pass away. God will safely keep what we give him or destroy what we try to keep for ourselves. In Jonah’s time period the citizens of Nineveh gave themselves to God and they were spared. In Nahum’s period they decided to serve themselves and were destroyed. God is not just a little against sin. He is big time against sin and yes the sinners. Look at what he himself says in Nahum's prophetic tale.

Nahum 2:13 (NASB) – "Behold, I am against you," declares the Lord of hosts. "I will burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard."

BEHOLD I AM AGAINST YOU! Wow! God is against people! I thought God loved everybody and wants everyone to come to heaven and live with him in the land of unicorns and flowers. What is up with this? Maybe Nahum misunderstood God and he was against their actions but surely the God of love wouldn't be against people. I wouldn't be so sure. Check out the Psalms.

Psalm 5:5-6 (NASB)

5. The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes;
   You hate all who do iniquity.
6. You destroy those who speak falsehood;
   The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

Psalm 11:5 (NASB)

5. The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,
   And the one who loves violence His soul hates.

Did we just read those verses right? Read them again. In fact go look them up in your own Bible just to spot check me. God is supposed to hate sin but love the sinner. But these passages say he hates doers of iniquity not just the iniquities they do. He abhors deceitful, murderous people. Jesus' said if we hate people we murder them in our heart so that includes most of us. He hates not just violence but the people who love violence. Yeah, it seems God is pretty decisive and not all unicorns and roses after all. You see God takes sin seriously.

Jonah showed God's mercy and grace toward sinners if they will repent. Nahum 1:3 tells us God is patient. The New Testament echoes this. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 NASB) God is patiently slow not willing that any perish but at some point judgment comes and when it does it comes without mercy. Nahum shows us God's justice and wrath.

When we turn away from God and reject authority and accountability, we in effect become our own gods. What is God’s response to this lawlessness? He becomes against us. We choose to live somewhere before either Jonah or Nahum. We can see God's providence in providing the ultimate sacrifice for us or we can see God's punishments in eternal separation from him.

Which tale are you in? That is my question for you. The Ninevites of Jonah’s day were sinners just as those in Nahum’s day were. We are in fact all sinners. Romans 3:23 says we have all sinned. There is no doubt that we live in a city of sin and that we are in fact sinners. We know the city; it's just a matter of which tale we are in. Romans 6:23 says we all face the penalty of death. But, and this is a great big magnificent but, but Jesus made a way. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 NASB) If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:9-10 NASB)

IHFHBOH
Adam

acdum@hotmail.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org

All scripture references from KJV unless otherwise noted