In our culture people are obsessed concerning how to survive. The Good News of the Christian Gospel is that we do not survive; we overcome the world by the power of the Risen Lord. He makes us more than conquerors. According to the show, Survivor, we succeed by being ruthless, conniving, and deceitful, following a pragmatic, win at all costs, ends-justify-the means mentality. In today’s world it seems that good guys finish last (or at least that’s what people want us to think). Winning from God’s point-of-view is different. In the end you may not wind up with a million dollars, but you have God’s approval.
I am reading this morning from Nahum. The prophet Nahum delivered a sober message of judgment to Ninevah, but in the middle of his harsh prophecy he offered hope, (vs 7), “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.” Nahum presented God as our refuge, a shelter in the time of storm.
Nahum wrote 150 years after the time of Jonah. Under Jonah’s reluctant preaching the Ninevites repented and God withheld His wrath. But in the time of Nahum, it appears their repentance had “worn off” and they sunk deeply into all kinds of sin. Ninevah was again a place of unparalleled wickedness. It was also the wealthiest city in the world, furnished with priceless objects taken as plunder from conquered nations.
God made it plain that He was angry at Ninevah. We don’t like to think of God as being angry, yet the Bible is very clear that He hates sin. You likely have seen billboards along the highway with "messages from God". One says, “Don’t make Me come down there.” Yet, even when God is angry at sin, He is patient with us. Verse 2 says “The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies . This can mean that God stores up His wrath, but it also can mean that He holds back His vengeance from us. He wants us to repent and He waits for us to repent; He is “slow to anger.” He has control over His wrath. He gives us many chances to repent. However, God clearly warns us in Genesis 6:3, “My Spirit will not contend/strive with man forever.” There is a limit to God’s patience.
When we place our trust in Christ, God in His grace gives us what we do not deserve—eternal life. God in His mercy does not give us what we do deserve- full, eternal punishment for our sins that separate us from Him! We can offer hope to our lost world, a world going its own way, a way that leads to destruction, because we have the roadmap, the right directions. Nahum 1:15 announces, “Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace!” We can be that one offering the good news. We should have a sense of urgency towards those who do not know the Lord. We need to offer prayer for our community, care about those who need the Lord, and share what God had done for us. God will give us opportunities if we ask.
No nation is immune from judgment. Among those who reject God, who refuse to turn from their wickedness, there will be no survivors. Proverbs 29:1 warns, “Some people are still stubborn after they have been corrected many times; they will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.”
Rudyard Kipling understood Nahum when he wrote, “Lo, all the pomp of yesterday, is one with Ninevah and Tyre. Judge of the nations, spare us yet—Lest we forget, lest we forget!”
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heY4bAQFwW8
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