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Nahum 1

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Verses 1-15, “The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; The Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies; The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, And dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, And the flower of Lebanon wilts. The mountains quake before Him, The hills melt, And the earth heaves at His presence, Yes, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, And the rocks are thrown down by Him. The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him. But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place, And darkness will pursue His enemies. What do you conspire against the Lord? He will make an utter end of it. Affliction will not rise up a second time. For while tangled like thorns, And while drunken like drunkards, They shall be devoured like stubble fully dried. From you comes forth one Who plots evil against the Lord, A wicked counselor. Thus says the Lord: “Though they are safe, and likewise many, Yet in this manner they will be cut down When he passes through. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more; For now I will break off his yoke from you, And burst your bonds apart.” The Lord has given a command concerning you: “Your name shall be perpetuated no longer. Out of the house of your gods I will cut off the carved image and the molded image. I will dig your grave, For you are vile.” Behold, on the mountains The feet of him who brings good tidings, Who proclaims peace! O Judah, keep your appointed feasts, Perform your vows. For the wicked one shall no more pass through you; He is utterly cut off.”

We see here that Nineveh is being warned of judgment. Although they had repented previously when Jonah delivered a message, they had slipped back into their former sinful ways and were storing up their own wrath. This is because you are only secure in Him, IF you continue to walk in His goodness and trust in Him. They were being wicked, and God will not at all aquit the wicked, but rather punish them, regardless of their former conduct. Yes the Lord is loving and patient, but if you set yourself against Him, you will receive His vengeance. And how do you set yourself against Him? When you love the things of this world more than you love Him. By doing this, you make yourself His enemy. James 4:1‭-‬6, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires  for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

There is a reason why those who are called by His name are being accused of being adulterous. They had a covenant with God, yet played the harlot with their fleshly desires and idolatries. What's even worse is that in their pride, they assumed the could get away with it without any consequences, and still be under God's hand of protection. They did not consider that He is a jealous God.  I John 2:15‭-‬17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”  If you really want security...then seek to do His will. When you fall short, He will be gracious toward you when you approach Him in brokenness. However,  presumptuous sinning will only earn you His hand of judgment, not His mercy and grace, which are reserved only for the humble. Thinking you are safe will not change your outcome either. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Comments

  1. SusanFebruary 21, 2018 at 6:03 PM

    “The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; The LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies; The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The LORD has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet.”Nahum 1:1-3

    Although the Nineveh repented from their sin, they turn backed to it.

    We need to be careful as christians if we have had sin in our lives and repented of it that we do not turn back to are to our old ways. It is very easy to back to your sin. When we repent
    we need to get rid of sin completely and anything that will cause you to turn back to it. You should not let anything in that will tempt you because Satan will try to bring you down. God is slow to anger and patient, but it does not last forever. Time does run out and if we don’t not choose to do what is right we will pay for the sins we have committed.

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