Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Milford

THE PROPHET NAHUM 1:1-15 [NLTse]
This message concerning Nineveh came as a vision to Nahum, who lived in Elkosh.
2 The Lord is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and rage. He takes revenge on all who oppose Him and continues to rage against His enemies! 3 The Lord is slow to get angry, but His power is great, and He never lets the guilty go unpunished. He displays His power in the whirlwind and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust beneath His feet. 4 At His command the oceans dry up, and the rivers disappear. The lush pastures of Bashan and Carmel fade, and the green forests of Lebanon wither. 5 In His presence the mountains quake, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles, and its people are destroyed. 6 Who can stand before His fierce anger? Who can survive His burning fury? His rage blazes forth like fire, and the mountains crumble to dust in His presence.

7 The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in Him. 8 But He will sweep away His enemies in an overwhelming flood. He will pursue His foes into the darkness of night.

9 Why are you scheming against the Lord? He will destroy you with one blow; He won’t need to strike twice! 10 His enemies, tangled like thornbushes and staggering like drunks, will be burned up like dry stubble in a field. 11 Who is this wicked counselor of yours who plots evil against the Lord?

12 This is what the Lord says: “Though the Assyrians have many allies, they will be destroyed and disappear. O My people, I have punished you before, but I will not punish you again. 13 Now I will break the yoke of bondage from your neck and tear off the chains of Assyrian oppression.”

14 And this is what the Lord says concerning the Assyrians in Nineveh: “You will have no more children to carry on your name. I will destroy all the idols in the temples of your gods. I am preparing a grave for you because you are despicable!”
15 Look! A messenger is coming over the mountains with good news! He is bringing a message of peace. Celebrate your festivals, O people of Judah, and fulfill all your vows, for your wicked enemies will never invade your land again. They will be completely destroyed!

SERMON
Israel existed as an association of tribes for its first years in the Promised Land. The tribes were united into one kingdom under David, and grew wealthy beyond compare under Solomon. But Israel divided into two kingdoms – Israel in the north and Judah in the south – after Solomon died. At times the two nations were allies; at other times they were enemies.

At the time of the prophet Nahum, the northern kingdom of Israel had been wiped out, defeated and taken away as captives by the cruel and ruthless Assyrians. And just as the people of Israel had been taken away to other lands, people from other lands also conquered by the Assyrians had been brought to the lands of Israel to make a life for themselves and to keep the taxes and tribute due to the king coming.

Which all left the southern kingdom of Judah terrified!

“Did you see what they did to our cousins in Israel? It’s only a matter of time before they come for us!”
But through the prophet Nahum the Lord says, No.

“Why are you scheming against the Lord, [Assyria]? He will destroy you with one blow; He won’t need to strike twice!”
“Celebrate your festivals, O people of Judah, and fulfill all your vows, for your wicked enemies will never invade your land again. They will be completely destroyed!”

And that’s what happened.

Of course, by Jesus’ day the Assyrians have long disappeared into the history books, as have the Babylonians who conquered them, and the Persians who conquered them, and the Greeks who conquered them. During Jesus’ days and the days of the New Testament the Romans rule the world: From the British Isles in the west to Germania in the north, all the north African nations to the south over to Judea – the Promised Land – in the east. But enemies still abound with much to fear from the Lord Who is jealous for His people.

Modern folks don’t like to talk too much about this idea of “fearing the Lord”. God is love, the Bible says, and God being “angry” with His enemies, and us and they “fearing Him” accordingly, doesn’t fit very well into modern ideas about love. So many today have decided that God’s rage and wrath can’t be a part of God’s life with us and that fearing God can’t be a part of our life with God.

But such ways of thinking are merely examples of how we’ve come to judge God instead of letting Him judge us.
We ask questions like, “If God is so loving then why do bad things happen to good people?” And we ask, “How could a loving God command His people – the Israelites – to wipe out every man, woman, and child of their enemies?” “How could the Lord speak with such anger and judgment against the peoples surrounding Israel, and even speak with such anger and judgment against the Israelites – His Own people – themselves?”

Did you know that such questions and concerns about fearing God and about His anger and wrath are not at all modern? One of the earliest controversies the early Church had to face was called “Marcionism”: The idea the Old Testament God was mean, harsh, and wrath-filled, a different God altogether from the kind, patient, and loving God of the New Testament, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But the God of the Bible is one and the same.

Jeremiah prophesies: “Behold the storm of the Lord! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked. (30:23) And from our reading this morning, the prophet Nahum: “The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries and keeps wrath for His enemies. (1:2) And yet we might say, but of course. That’s the Old Testament. But hear these words from the apostle Paul: “The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of humankind, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” (Romans 1:18) And hear these words about the Lord Jesus Christ from The Revelation to John: “From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.” (Revelation 19:15)

These ideas of fearing God and His wrath and rage toward sin and sinners is clearly and widely taught in the Bible. It is so interwoven with the hope of our peace with one another and with God through the cross of Christ that if we throw away the one we lose all hope of the other.

Unfortunately, I think moderns have become so familiar with the sinful expressions of human wrath and rage, and have so associated the idea of fear with that of cowering, that we have forgotten that when we speak about the “wrath of God” that it is the wrath of God. That is, everything we know about God—His fairness, His love, His goodness—needs to be poured into and made part and parcel of our understanding of His rage and wrath and what it means to fear Him.
Maybe you have suffered because of someone who is habitually angry, losing their temper, or flying into a rage. Human anger can often be unpredictable, petty, and disproportionate. But none of these things are true of the anger of God. God’s wrath is the just and measured response of His holiness toward evil.

Proverbs 24:12 says, “Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and He sees you. He Who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve.” And the good news is, He knows when we didn’t know, too.

So, God’s wrath is rightly feared because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) God’s wrath is rightly feared because we are fairly condemned sinners apart from Christ. (Romans 5:1) God’s wrath is rightly feared because He is powerful enough to do what He promises. (Jeremiah 32:17) God’s wrath is rightly feared because God promises eternal punishment apart from Jesus Christ. (Matthew 25:46) (The Bible speaks of the wrath of God as God giving people over to their excesses and addictions and scheming and wickedness: To do to others and to live in fear of others doing it to they themselves. And the Bible pictures Hell, that final result of God’s rage and wrath against sin, as being a place “where their worm never dies” and as a fiery place of horrible suffering… And for our sin and selfishness and our rejection of God as God, that is what every human being deserves.

Which is what makes the good news so marvelously good:
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). Because of Christ sacrifice on the cross and His serving our punishment there, God can rightly say that He’s made sinners innocent of their sin. (Romans 3:26) Justice has been served, and there is second punishment. Yes, in Christ God has lived a sinless life which no other human being could ever do, and He has done what we didn’t deserve: Taking our sins upon Himself and giving His righteousness to us.
Charles Wesley was right to explode in praise: “And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior’s blood? Died He for me, Who caused His pain! For me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for for me? Amazing love! How can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”

Our closing song is “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.” As we sing about our weakness and God’s power, as we sing about “the crystal fountain”, “the healing stream” He’s provided for us in Christ’s sacrifice to wash us clean of every mar and sin, if you want to stand where you are – or come forward – to commit yourself anew to the Bread of Heaven, our Strong Deliverer, He is worth it! Come, you are welcome at His throne of grace!