THE BOOK OF NAHUM
(“A Dreadful Description of God”)1 (Part 1)
Nahum 1:1-15 (NASU)
2“A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; the Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies. 3The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.” (Nahum 1:2-3)
LESSONS TO BE LEARNED
(1) The primary message of the Book of Nahum is neither subtle nor mysterious. Although written while the Assyrians were still “numerous” and “at full strength” (c.f. Nahum 1:12), the prophet saw an inspired “vision” (c.f. Nahum 1:1) of the future that showed “the Lord” (c.f. Nahum 1:2-3, 9, 11, 14) was going to “completely” destroy (c.f. Nahum 1:8, 15) the city “Nineveh” (c.f. Nahum 1:1) and its inhabitants – and with it the “contemptible” (c.f. Nahum 1:14) and “wicked” (c.f. Nahum 1:15) Assyrian Empire.
(2) The primary lesson for subsequent generations (like our own) is that the physical destruction of Nineveh is a picture of what God will do to all His “adversaries” and “enemies” (c.f. Nahum 1:2) on (what Jesus called) “the day of judgment” (c.f. Matthew 11:22-24; see also II Peter 2:9) – also known in Scripture as “the day of the Lord” (c.f. Isaiah 13:6; Ezekiel 30:3; Joel 1:15; I Thessalonians 5:2-3; etc.) – a day the prophet Malachi said would be “great and terrible” (c.f. Malachi 4:5), especially for those who have not embraced Jesus Christ as their Savior (c.f. I Thessalonians 1:10).
(3) And that leads us to a secondary (but still very important) message found primarily in the first chapter of the Book of Nahum (see also Nahum 2:2) – namely, that there is hope for everyone who puts their trust in the Lord, even in the face of such overwhelming and complete destruction. Hence, in verse seven the people of Judah (who had been oppressed by the Assyrians over many decades, in part because they had refused to repent of their own sins – c.f. Isaiah 10:5-6) (the people of Judah) were reminded that: “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him” (c.f. Nahum 1:7) – and again, in verse twelve: “… though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no longer” (c.f. Nahum 1:12) – and once more, in verse fifteen: “… Celebrate your feasts, O Judah, pay your vows, for never again will the wicked one pass through you” (c.f. Nahum 1:15).
(4) The secondary (but equally important) lesson for subsequent generations (including our own) is that “the day of the Lord” will NOT be a “day of judgment and wrath” for those who have repented of their sins and professed faith in Jesus Christ (c.f. Romans 8:1). For them (for us?!) it will be a “great and glorious day” (c.f. Acts 2:20) – even a day of salvation (c.f. I Corinthians 5:5) – for the Book of Romans reminds us that: “… having … been justified by (Christ’s) blood, WE SHALL BE SAVED FROM THE WRATH OF GOD THROUGH HIM” (c.f. Romans 5:9). That’s why I’ve made a point of saying (in the first two messages) that a study of the Book of Nahum can help Christians today better understand what we’ve been saved from (c.f. Luke 3:7; Ephesians 5:6) – while also enabling us to appreciate more deeply what Jesus did for us on the cross (c.f. Isaiah 53:3-8; Matthew 27:46).
DEFENDING MY USE OF THE WORD
“DREADFUL”
(1) After a brief introduction in verse one – where Nahum refers to his book as an “oracle”, or “burden” as the NKJV says (c.f. Nahum 1:1), because of the gravity or weightiness of its content – the Book of Nahum opens with what I’ve chosen to call “a dreadful description of God”,1 especially in verses two and three, but also extending at least as far as verse six (c.f. Nahum 1:2-6).
(2) According to the dictionary on my office shelf, the word “dreadful” can be used to describe anything that causes people to become greatly afraid2 – and certainly Nahum’s description of the Lord, especially in verses two and three (c.f. Nahum 1:2-3), ought to cause every unsaved man or woman to be intensely and terribly afraid to meet an “avenging and wrathful” God with their sins unforgiven. As Jesus Himself once said: 4“… do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. 5But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!” (c.f. Luke 12:4-5). The Book of Hebrews adds: 26“… if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27but a TERRIFYING expectation of JUDGMENT and the FURY of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know Him who said, ‘VENGEANCE is Mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will JUDGE His people.’ 31It is a TERRIFYING thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (c.f. Hebrews 10:26-31).
One reason more lost people don’t “dread” God, is because they haven’t taken descriptions like the one found in tonight’s Scripture lesson seriously – because they have (as the Book of Romans says) “suppressed the truth” about who He is and what He’s like (c.f. Romans 1:18) – because they have chosen to adopt an unbalanced picture of God that emphasizes an anemic view of His love and mercy, while rejecting the idea of His holiness, justice and wrath.
(3) My dictionary also says the word “dreadful” can be used to describe things people find “extremely distasteful, unpleasant, or shocking”2 – and many people certainly find the description Nahum gives of God in the opening verses of chapter one “distasteful, unpleasant and shocking”. In fact, many (including some Christians) find descriptions like this – which are not confined to the Book of Nahum, by the way (c.f. Joshua 24:19-20; Deuteronomy 32:43; Hebrews 10:26-31; Revelation 6:15-17; etc.) – hard to reconcile with other passages in the Bible that talk about God’s love and mercy, His grace and kindness, even His goodness and patience and forgiveness (c.f. I John 4:8; Psalm 86:5, 14; Luke 6:35; Psalm 119:68; II Peter 3:9).
However, as I mentioned last time, it’s not a question of the Lord being a God of vengeance and wrath, OR a God of love and grace. Rather, Scripture tells us BOTH things are true – that He is (for example) a God of love and grace AND a God of vengeance and wrath as well! What’s more, if we find these latter descriptions “distasteful, or unpleasant, or shocking”, the problem is not with God but with us – the problem is with our idolatrous perception of Him, not His revelation of Himself in Scripture AND history!
(4) The dictionary I have also says the word “dreadful” can be used to describe things that “inspire awe or reverence”2 in people’s minds and hearts – and when rightly understood, and received by faith, Nahum’s description of the Lord in verses two through six (c.f. Nahum 1:2-6) can certainly have that effect – especially on Christ’s elect, redeemed people. Hence, the Book of Revelation asks rhetorically: “Who will not FEAR, O Lord, and glorify Your name?” (c.f. Revelation 15:4) – certainly no one who takes the description of God found in tonight’s Scripture lesson seriously.
Elsewhere the Book of Deuteronomy describes the Lord as “a great and AWESOME God” (c.f. Deuteronomy 7:21) – while the Book of Joel describes “the day of the Lord” as a “great and AWESOME day” (c.f. Joel 2:31). The Book of Psalms exhorts us to worship the Lord, saying: “Men shall speak of the power of Your AWESOME acts, and I will tell of Your greatness” (c.f. Psalm 145:6) – while Isaiah marveled at the way God works, saying: “… You did AWESOME things which we did not expect …” (c.f. Isaiah 64:3) (and not all of those “awesome things” had to do with His mercy and grace and love – c.f. Romans 9:22-24).
(5) Everything about the Lord – everything He does – everything He is – all His attributes, including those spoken of in the opening verses of Nahum chapter one – ought to inspire awe and reverence, even dread and fear in men’s hearts. Only those still blinded by sin and disbelief will fail to see how dreadfully great and awesome the Lord is – even in His wrath and vengeance. So, I think the word “dreadful” – when properly defined and understood – is a good word to describe the awesome picture of the Lord found in tonight’s text.
(C) OUR GOD IS A JEALOUS GOD
(1) After briefly introducing himself and his book in verse one (c.f. Nahum 1:1), Nahum quickly recedes into the background and God immediately takes center stage (c.f. John 3:30), beginning with this sobering description in verse two: “A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; the Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies” (c.f. Nahum 1:2). (Obviously, if all these things are true – and they are! – then one should think twice about remaining God’s “adversary” or “enemy”!)
(2) Keep in mind, too, that this is how the Book of Nahum opens! However, it turns out that such an abrupt beginning is not without precedent among Old Testament prophets. For example, after a one-verse introduction, in which the author and date of his prophecy are identified, the second and third verses of the Book of Zephaniah say: 2“‘I will completely remove all things from the face of the earth,’ declares the Lord. 3‘I will remove man and beast; I will remove the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and the ruins along with the wicked; and I will cut off man from the face of the earth,’ declares the Lord” (c.f. Zephaniah 1:2-3).
Likewise, after a similar one-verse introduction, the next four verses of the Book of Micah says: 2“Hear, O peoples, all of you; listen, O earth and all it contains, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple. 3For behold, the Lord is coming forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth. 4The mountains will melt under Him and the valleys will be split, like wax before the fire, like water poured down a steep place. 5All this is for the rebellion of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel …” (c.f. Micah 1:2-5).
Elsewhere, the second verse of the Book of Amos says: “the Lord roars from Zion …” (c.f. Amos 1:2) (that sounds ominous, and it was!) – while the second verse of the Book of Zechariah says: “The Lord was very angry with your fathers” (c.f. Zechariah 1:2) (although in this instance, the next several verses exhort God’s people to repent, and not be like their forefathers, who refused to turn from their evils ways – however, the implication is that if they don’t repent the Lord will be as angry with them as He was with their “fathers”).
My point is, that Nahum is not the only prophet whose book starts off so abruptly. Indeed, it’s possible that the “burden” (c.f. Nahum 1:1, NKJV) of the message they had been given was so “heavy”, these men of God could hardly wait to “unload” it (as it were) – not from some sinister desire to see God pour out His wrath on sinful people – but because of the “relief” that usually comes from laying down a heavy load, or finishing an especially difficult task.
(3) Note, then, that the first word Nahum used to describe God (in verse two) is “jealous” (c.f. Nahum 1:2) – a word that carries the dual connotation of zeal and anger.3 Today people usually think of “jealousy” as being a bad thing.4 – and for fallen creatures (like ourselves) it usually is (c.f. Galatians 5:19-21) – especially when it involves envy, or wanting what someone else has.5 However, “jealousy” can also be a good thing (even in a fallen world) when it involves cherishing what we have and wanting to protect it5 (c.f. II Corinthians 11:2).
(4) God’s jealousy should always be understood in a cherishing, protective light. It is one of His attributes (c.f. Deuteronomy 4:24), just like love and mercy and goodness – and, He always expresses it in a perfect, sinless manner. Moreover, if we inquire as to what God becomes jealous about, three things immediately come to mind – His glory, His worship, and His covenant people – or (if you will) His reputation (or honor), His adoration, and His “bride”.
Regarding His glory, God says: “I am the Lord … I will not give My glory to another …” (c.f. Isaiah 42:8; see also Isaiah 48:11) – and again: “…I will be JEALOUS for My holy name” (c.f. Ezekiel 39:25) – and once more (this time in the form of a question): “‘… where is My honor? … where is My respect?’ says the Lord of hosts …” (c.f. Malachi 1:6).
Regarding worship, which is to be given to God alone, the psalmist wrote: 58“… they provoked Him with their high places and aroused His JEALOUSY with their graven images. 59(And) … He was filled with WRATH and greatly abhorred Israel” (c.f. Psalm 78:58-59). The Book of Deuteronomy contains this sobering warning: 14“You shall not follow other gods … 15for the Lord your God … is a JEALOUS God; otherwise the ANGER of the Lord … will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth” (c.f. Deuteronomy 6:14-15).
As for His covenant people, God says: “I am exceedingly JEALOUS for Jerusalem and Zion” (c.f. Zechariah 1:14) – and again: “I am exceedingly JEALOUS for Zion, yes, with great WRATH I am JEALOUS for her” (c.f. Zechariah 8:2).
(5) How, then, did the Assyrians arouse God’s jealousy? First (except for that brief interlude following Jonah’s trip to Nineveh) they were idol worshippers (c.f. II Kings 19:36) – which always makes God angry (c.f. Deuteronomy 27:15; see also I Kings 11:7-11). Hence, He says in verse fourteen of tonight’s Scripture lesson: “… I will cut off idol and image from the house of your gods. I will prepare your grave, for you are contemptible” (c.f. Nahum 1:14). In addition, when they weren’t worshipping one of their idols of wood or stone, they were worshipping self – which is also a sure way to arouse God’s jealousy, and with it His anger (see Daniel 4:29-33). In fact, the Assyrians were especially enamored with their military power (c.f. II Kings 18:33-35).
Second, by worshipping idols the Assyrians were not giving God the glory that is always His due. Instead, they were glorifying pieces of wood and stone – or, they were glorifying themselves. Either way, they were following the practice described in Romans chapter one that says: 20“…they did not honor Him as God or give thanks … (instead, they) 23exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures … 25they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator …” (c.f. Romans 1:20, 23, 25).
Third, even though God had raised up the Assyrians to afflict His covenant people, because they had refused to confess their sins and repent (c.f. Isaiah 7:17-20; Nahum 1:12b-13), the Assyrians carried out their divine task with excessive cruelty (c.f. Isaiah 10:5-7). Hence, the prophet Isaiah wrote: “So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, ‘I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness’” (c.f. Isaiah 10:12). As the late James Boice once said: “The people of Judah had been abused by Nineveh. And now God was going to rise up and make an end of their abusers.”6
We see, then, that God had good reason to be “jealous” (c.f. Nahum 1:2) – good reason to be zealous for His glory, and His worship, and His covenant people – good reason to be angry with the Assyrians, even to the point of choosing to “make a complete end” of them (c.f. Nahum 1:8). They had profaned His glory, and blasphemed His name – they had gone back to worshipping other gods, which were no gods at all – and they had abused His covenant people, whom Scripture often speaks of as God’s bride or His wife (c.f. Isaiah 54:5).
(6) If the idea of God’s “jealousy” (c.f. Nahum 1:12) still makes us uneasy, consider this – how would you wives feel if another man made obvious advances toward you, and your husband just sat there without doing or (at least) saying anything? How would you feel if the advances of another man did not arouse your husband to some measure of jealous anger? How would you feel if he just said, “Oh well ” – or, “What’s the big deal?” – without showing any zeal for your honor, or your purity, or the sacredness of your marriage relationship? I dare say that you would either think he wasn’t much of a man – or that you didn’t mean a lot to him – or that your marriage was in danger.
Or, suppose someone managed to get into our pulpit, and proceeded to preach about how God doesn’t know what the future holds – or that He doesn’t have sovereign control over the events swirling around us – or that Jesus was just a man (not God come in human flesh) – or that there are other ways to heaven besides faith in Christ – or some other obvious heretical teaching. What would you think if that happened, and your pastor just let it go? What would you think if something like that happened, and your pastor didn’t at least challenge it from the pulpit at the very first opportunity? What would you think if that happened, and your pastor never gave some indication that what you heard was wrong? In other words, how would you feel if something like that happened, and your pastor wasn’t aroused to some measure of jealousy and anger for your spiritual welfare – without some measure of zeal for your spiritual well-being – without some indication he cared even a little about the eternal destiny of your soul? I dare say that most of you would probably question his commitment to your spiritual safety – and might even ask for his resignation, so you could find a shepherd who cares enough about the sheep to keep the wolves away!
(7) There’s a sense in which that’s what’s going on here in the opening verses of the Book of Nahum. In other words, God’s “jealousy” (c.f. Nahum 1:2) (when properly understood) reassures us that He really does care – not just about His own glory, and His worship (both of which are important, by the way) – but also about His covenant people. If our God were not “jealous” (c.f. Nahum 1:2), we would soon be questioning His love for us, His promises to us, His commitment to righteousness and justice, His sovereignty, His goodness, and a host of other important issues – including whether or not He really cares enough, or has enough power to save us!
So, it’s one thing to sit and piously squirm about biblical statements concerning God being a “jealous” God (c.f. Nahum 1:2) – but stop and think about what your life and eternal future would be like if He weren’t!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1Calvin’s Commentaries: Vol. XIV; The Twelve Minor
Prophets; Vol. III; Jonah, Micah, Nahum; p. 420
2Websters Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary; 1963; p.
253.
3BCS: Strong’s Concordance; Word #7068.
4Robertson: The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah;
The New International Commentary on the Old Testament; p. 59.
5Wiersbe: Be Amazed; p. 98.
6Boice: The Minor Prophets; Vol. Two; p. 61.