To have a high view of God, we must realize he is not like us.
If someone does something wrong to us, we are supposed to forgive. We are not in the position to judge them as we have done wrong things ourselves. It is not our place to get revenge. “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord (
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” (ESV)
).”
But God is completely different from us. He is the one in the position to judge and according to
21 These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. (ESV)
we can be confident he will do so. Think about this: It is appropriate for God to take revenge. He is the one who must punish people according to what they have done.
And this is what the book of Nahum is all about:
–
In this book we will read about God’s coming judgment of Nineveh. Previously in Jonah we read about God’s compassion on those people in giving them an opportunity to repent. But this is a century or so later and now God is ready to judge them because they have returned to their wicked ways.
Believe it or not, this is actually good news to God’s people in Judah that this prophecy is given to. Nineveh was their enemy who was oppressing them in evil and so it would come as an encouragement to them. In
Rejoicing in Heaven
19:1 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
2 for his judgments are true and just;
for he has judged the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her immorality,
and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
3 Once more they cried out,
“Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”
4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And from the throne came a voice saying,
“Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
small and great.”
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
8 it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
The Rider on a White Horse
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 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. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh. (ESV)
, it is clear that all who are in heaven rejoice at the judgment of God on the wickedness of the world. They see it is right for God to be the one who punishes people for their sins. This is something we will better understand in heaven and praise God for in eternity. He is the only one who should be in the vengeance business. And he will do a good job.
If you thought the burn pictures in Pastor Lucas’ power point at Revival X were intense, you will find many similar word pictures here in this book. The wrath of God is compared to fire and he is breaking rocks into pieces in anger (
).
There are still verses about God’s goodness (like
which is on the Double-Double wrapper) and there are verses about Judah responding to their evil enemy. But the main theme of this book is the vengeance of God. Let us raise our view of him to see that when God takes revenge on someone it is not a bad thing.
It is exactly what God should do.
Thanks Pastor Bobby for this blog, it makes more sense now. :) I was trying to read it by myself out of my Bible and after not completely getting the concept I decided to check & see if you had blogged. Thank you!
Thankyou for this
It helped me understand how just and powerful God is :)
Thank for the insight into the Book of Nahum Pasto Bobby.
I enjoyed your blog on Nahum,and the video,and your pirate accent. :)
thanks Pastor Bobby! this helped a lot!
thanks so much pastor Bobby, this helped.
when i was reading sotd i didnt understand it at all but now this makes more sense.
Good summary!