Nahum - Consolation

Nahum – Consolation

Nahum means “Consolation”

key verse: (1.3) “The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.”

“Will not at all acquit the wicked...”

Does anyone get away with anything?

“The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knowth them that trust in Him” (1.7)

When someone comes against you, where do you turn?

The Lord gave Nahum words to comfort Israel because the enemy was bent on destroying them.

The enemy at this time was the city of Nineveh.

Do you remember who went to Nineveh to preach repentance? Jonah – and 120,000 repented and turned to God – quite literally, the whole city!

Have you ever repented and turned to the Lord Jesus as Saviour?

Now, about 150 years later, the revival has worn off and the city has turned away from God and is once again an enemy of Israel.

So, it is this prophet, Nahum who sounds the death knell on Nineveh, the capital of the great Assyrian Empire.

• The way one knows one has repented and trusted Christ is there is a desire to do right all the time.
• Do you have that desire?

Nineveh had been given light but rejected it.

Jesus said (Mt 6.23) “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness.”

Nineveh deteriorated, morally and spiritually when they rejected God and His Word.

Like so many other nations: for example England.

Remember the story of the Pilgrims and the Mayflower?

Do you know why the Pilgrims risked death to come across the ocean?

Liberty and freedom from religious oppression. They desired to worship God as they believed right. So, they came.

Even after the Pilgrims left, and the land was mostly in spiritual darkness, God in mercy blessed England with great men such as JohnWesley, George Whitfield, CH Spurgeon and others. But the people rejected the true Word of God in favor of ritual and tradition.

Thus, “the light went out.”

Now, we send missionaries to England to once again give her the light of God's Word.

We know that in 1Jn 4.8 “God IS love.” What folks tend to forget is that He is also just and holy.

So in judging Nineveh, He was just. (Gen 18.24).

When He judges He is not petulant (of sour temper) or vindictive (I'll get you back) or because He is reacting in anger in a sudden emotional outburst. He judges BECAUSE He is just. BECAUSE He is love. And love/justice must deal with sin.

What is your attitude when you know you are right and the other person is wrong?

Back to Nineveh. The day of grace was gone, “no healing.” (Nah 3.19)

I believe America is fast approaching the same end. The life of a nation, historically is about 200 years. We have been here, as a nation, 241.

• We were in bondage but God gave faith thru the Word of God brought over by Pilgrims.
• Faith gives way to courage, courage to liberty (this is where things break down).
• Liberty to abundance then selfishness then complacency then apathy back to bondage (again).

How do you feel about things of God?

Do you want to love Him and keep His commandments?

Do you wish grown ups would quit telling you what to do, where you can go and for goodness sake, what you should wear?

Be careful, be very careful – this is the attitude that lead to Nineveh's destruction by and Almighty God.

If this is the way you feel, you had better check up. Maybe you didn't ask Jesus to forgive you and come into your heart. Maybe you just did it because you felt forced or pushed into it.

If Nahum's name means consolation, then what is good about judging Nineveh?

Well, God is going to judge Nineveh, again, for her wickedness and because she is bent on destroying the Hebrews, God's chosen people. Nahum is prophecying this destruction and it leads to “consolation” for Israel to know they will be avenged (satisfied by the destruction of their enemy).

Do you trust God to “avenge” you of those who treat you bad on purpose?

Do you believe He loves you enough to do just that?

Would Nahum's prophecy find you an Israelite (you belong to God and are comforted) or a Ninevite (you belong to the ruler of darkness and there is no comfort)?