03 March 1, 2015, Nahum 1;1-8 God Is

Nahum 1:1-8
God Is Just - God Is Love
March 1, 2015
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA

What’s the number one thing?

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The Glory of God!

1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink,
or whatever you do, do all to the glory
of God.

March Memory Verse:
Romans 3:23
23
for all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God.

IT IS HERE
MARCH MADNESS
SHOOTING FOR 7,000 IN
5 SUNDAYS AT FIRST JACKSON!

We do desire to see 7,000 people
have the opportunity to be loved
and discipled through the incredible
ministry of Sunday school and
community!

The class that has the most guests
during March Madness and
Highest Average Attendance during
March Madness will receive
breakfast for the class on the
choice of your Sunday during the
month of April.

On March 8, Spring Forward before
going to bed on Saturday, March 7,
to be on time.
We will have sausage biscuits with
jelly for 9:00 a.m. Sunday School.

March 20, 2015
Little Feet Consignment Spring Sale

SAVE THE DATE
Tuesday, March 24th, 6 - 8:00 p.m.
BOOMERS AND BITES
COVERED DISH NIGHT
IN 7 METRO JACKSON
COMMUNITIES

LOCATIONS WILL BE
ANNOUNCED NEXT WEEK
Great opportunity to connect with
people that live in your
neighborhood!

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We have three challenges that the
Education
Department has
placed before
us in 2015:

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1.) Memorize the monthly memory
verse and
know each
month we
are hiding
God’sWord
in our heart.

January verse:
Romans 10:9
9
If you declare with your mouth,
“Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your
heart that God raised Him from the
dead, you will be saved.

February verse:
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith—and this is
not from yourselves, it is a gift of
God— 9 not by works, so that no
one can boast.”

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2.) Share your faith with one person
each month and build a relationship
with them, so they will become a
believer in 2015
as God uses you
to plant seeds
with that person.

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3). Ask two Sunday School class
members to share how they have
seen God at work during the week.

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http://a5.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Podcasts6/v4/32/5f/79/325f79f3-a0f1-02e5-5382-d8d519585dbe/mza_8884854500008393311.255x255-75.jpg
J.Vernon McGee's
ThruThe Bible

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Instead of calling them major and
minor prophets, it would perhaps be
more appropriate to refer to them as
the prophets with longer works and
the prophets with shorter works.

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The four prophets with longer works
(major prophets) are:
Isaiah,
Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, and
Daniel.

The twelve prophets with shorter
(minor) works are the last twelve
books of our OldTestament: Hosea,
Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,
Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

Of the hundreds of prophets in
ancient Israel in OldTestament times,
only 16 were chosen
to speak oracles that
would be collected
and written down
into books.

These 16 writing prophets may be
divided into four groups:
1) Prophets of Israel – Jonah, Amos,
and Hosea
2) Prophets of Judah – Obadiah, Joel,
Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah,
and Habakkuk

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3) Exilic Prophets – Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
and Daniel
4) Post-exilic Prophets – Haggai,
Zechariah, and Malachi

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“What was the goal of their prophetic
ministries?”
Or, perhaps more appropriately,
“What was it the prophets were
seeking in their ministry?”

You might say restoration, i.e., a
restored covenant relationship with
God.
Yes, that may properly be understood
as the ultimate goal but what was it
the prophets actually sought?

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The prophets sought repentance.

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Restoration was the goal, but
repentance is what they hoped to see
from the people.

In fact, this message of the prophets was
so prevalent that Zechariah (one of the
last prophets) was able to sum up in one
sentence all the prophets that preceded
him: “the earlier prophets proclaimed:
Thus says the Lord of Hosts, turn from
your evil ways and doings,” (Zechariah
1:4).

The message of the prophets was a
call for repentance.
Is there a need for a message of
repentance today?

In the NewTestament the message of
John the Baptist was, Repent!
Matthew 3:1-2 NKJV
1 In those days John the Baptist came
preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and
saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand!”

Jesus thus repeated the message of John
the Baptist when He issued His first
command:
Matthew 4:17 NKJV
17 From that time Jesus began to preach
and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.”

Jesus sent out disciples who
"proclaimed that people should
repent". [Mark 6:12]
In his Pentecost sermon, Peter the
Apostle called on people to repent,
[Acts 2:38 and Acts 3:19]

Paul the Apostle likewise testified
"both to Jews and to Greeks of
repentance toward God" [Acts 20:21]
and said that "The times of ignorance
God overlooked, but now He
commands all people everywhere to
repent". [Acts 17:30]

Israel, the people of God in the Old
Testament, turned away from God and
needed a message of repentance.
• We Christians, who are looking so
much like the pagan society around us
that we are virtually indistinguishable,
need the same message?

http://reflectionsofgodslove.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/repentance.jpg

God preserved a faithful remnant in
Israel but being an Israelite did not
guarantee you were part of that
remnant: “not all Israel is Israel,”
(Romans 9:6).

God is also preserving a faithful
remnant in the church today, but
being “in the church” does not
guarantee that you are a part of that
remnant.

The prophets serve as constant
reminders to us of God’s serious
regard for His covenant. For those
who obey the stipulations of the New
Covenant (loving God and loving one's
neighbor through Jesus Christ), the
final, eternal, result will be blessing.

In thinking about application of the
prophets to us today, we can make at
least two observations:
(1)The ungodly society in Israel and
Judah in the days of the prophets is
certainly similar to the ungodly
society of our day; i.e.,

we see the similar self-indulgence,
materialism, sexual promiscuity and
perversion, pluralism, humanism,
rampant ungodliness, etc.
• Does that in itself not suggest that
there is a message in the prophets
for us today?

(2)We see through the prophets that
God is serious about His covenant
with Israel.
• Does this not suggest He is just as
serious about His New Covenant
through Jesus Christ?

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• Does this not imply that there is a
message in the prophets for the
church today?

How much are we like Israel, who
claimed God’s eternal favor based on
His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, and then worshipped the
things of this world?

We claim the eternal favor of God
based on the blood of Jesus, we say
“once saved always saved,” and then
we worship the things of this world.
How different is that?

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The prophets of the Old Covenant do
indeed have a message for us today.

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Divided Kingdom
The schism that Jeroboam (922 to 901
B.C.) caused within the Jewish
kingdom was the beginning of the
end for Israel.
• The Jewish people never again had
twelve tribes working together.

There was never even a movement to
reunite.
The ten northern tribes slipped
inexorably toward the bottomless pit
of history.

Judea was saved because:
1) they were not seduced by and
entrenched in idol worship,
2) the dynasty of David and
3) the prophets were able to
influence them, and
4) theTemple in Jerusalem.

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Those elements saved Judea from the
fate that befell the Northern
Kingdom.

The people of Judah witnessed the
destruction of the northern kingdom,
as did Isaiah and Micah, who warned
that they were not immune to God’s
wrath and were, in fact, on the same
road to destruction.

Thereafter, the mounting sinfulness
of Judah and the rise of another
superpower, Babylon, became the
subject of the prophets Nahum,
Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, as well as
Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

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Judah, too, was later destroyed for its
disobedience and carried off into exile
in Babylon.

Nahum - 614 B.C. His theme is the
destruction and fall of Nineveh which
occurred in 612 B.C.
• He reveals the eternal principle that
for a nation to survive it must be
established upon and directed by
principles of righteousness and truth.

Nahum 1:1-8 NKJV
1The burden against Nineveh.
The book of the vision of Nahum the
Elkoshite.
2a God is jealous, and the LORD avenges;
The LORD avenges and is furious.

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2b The LORD will take vengeance on His
adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies;

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3a The LORD is slow to anger and great in
power,
And will not at all acquit the wicked.

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3b The LORD has His way
In the whirlwind and in the storm,

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3c And the clouds are the dust of His
feet.

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4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
And dries up all the rivers.
Bashan and Carmel wither,
And the flower of Lebanon wilts.

New Madrid fault.
5a The mountains quake before Him,

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5b The hills melt,
And the earth heaves at His presence,
Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.

6 Who can stand before His indignation?
And who can endure the fierceness of
His anger?
His fury is poured out like fire,
And the rocks are thrown down by
Him.

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7 The LORD is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
And He knows those who trust in Him.

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Isaiah 49:16a NKJV
16a See, I have inscribed you on the palms
of My hands;

8 But with an overflowing flood
He will make an utter end of its place,
And darkness will pursue His enemies.
Nahum 1:1-8 NKJV

Nahum Chapter 1
THEME: Justice and goodness of God
The little Book of Nahum is a remarkable
prophecy.The prophet has just one theme,
the judgment of Nineveh, the capital of the
Assyrian Empire, but we will find that he
also has a meaningful message for us today.

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Nahum 1:1 NKJV
1The burden against Nineveh.The
book of the vision of Nahum the
Elkoshite.

"The burden against Nineveh" -- burden
means "judgment," as it is also used in the
prophecy of Isaiah.
• 150 years earlier, Jonah had brought a
message to Nineveh which revealed
the love of God, and now the message
of the Book of Nahum reveals the
justice of God -- the two go together.

• Although God will judge a nation,
He is still love, and He still loves --
you cannot escape that.
• The thing which makes the
judgment of God so frightful is the
fact that God does not do it as a
petulant person.

• He doesn't do it in a vindictive
manner whatsoever.
• He does not do it in a spirit of
revenge or of trying to get even.
• He does not judge because He has
become angry for a moment in a
sudden emotional outburst.

• God judges because He is just.
• He still loves, but He is just.
• Since He is just in His dealings, He
must deal with sin even in the lives
of those whom He loves.
• Nineveh was a city that God loved -
- He told Jonah that.

Jonah wanted the city destroyed, but
God said, 11 And should I not pity
Nineveh, that great city, in which are
more than one hundred and twenty
thousand persons who cannot discern
between their right hand and their
left—and much livestock?” Jonah 4:11

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God wanted to spare the city and the
people who were in it, many of whom
were little children.

And God had spared Nineveh, but now
judgment is going to fall upon this
great city -- this is Nahum's message.
• Jonah, almost a century and a half
before, had brought a message from
God, and Nineveh had repented.

However, the repentance was
transitory.
God has patiently given this new
generation opportunity to repent (see
v. 3), but the day of grace now ends
and the moment of doom comes.

Nahum 3:19 NKJV
19 Your injury has no healing,
Your wound is severe.
All who hear news of you
Will clap their hands over you,
For upon whom has not your
wickedness passed continually?

In other words, Nineveh has come to
a place where there is no healing for
her people.

There is a point that for a nation and
for an individual it is possible to
continue in sin until you cross over a
mark.
• As humans, we do not know where
that mark is -- but there is such a
place.

When you pass over that mark, it is
not that the grace of God cannot
reach you but that you cannot reach
God for the simple reason that you
have come to the place where you are
hardened and in a state of unbelief
which cannot be changed.

Romans 1:18-32 NKJV
18 For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men, who
suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
they are without excuse,

19 because what may be known of God is
manifest in them, for God has shown it to
them. 20 For since the creation of the world
His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are
made, even His eternal power and
Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

21 because, although they knew God,
they did not glorify Him as God, nor
were thankful, but became futile in
their thoughts, and their foolish
hearts were darkened.22 Professing to
be wise, they became fools,

23 and changed the glory of the
incorruptible God into an image made
like corruptible man—and birds and
four-footed animals and creeping
things.

24Therefore God also gave them up to
uncleanness, 25 who exchanged the
truth of God for the lie, and worshiped
and served the creature rather than
the Creator, who is blessed forever.
Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to vile
passions… and receiving in themselves the
penalty of their error which was due.
27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural
use of the woman, burned in their lust for one
another, men with men committing what is
shameful, and receiving in themselves the
penalty of their error which was due.

28 And even as they did not like to retain
God in their knowledge, God gave them
over to a debased mind, 29 being filled with
all unrighteousness, sexual immorality,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness;
full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-
mindedness; they are whisperers,

30 backbiters, haters of God, violent,
proud, boasters, inventors of evil
things, disobedient to parents,
31 undiscerning, untrustworthy,
unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;

32 who, knowing the righteous
judgment of God, that those who
practice such things are deserving of
death, not only do the same but also
approve of those who practice them.
Romans 1:18-32 NKJV

This can be true of a nation, and it can
be true of an individual.
• As you consider the things which
are happening today, you are apt
to be discouraged.
• Many of God's people are disturbed
today.

This is one of the reasons we have had
such an interest in prophecy.
God's people, ignorant of theWord of
God, are desperately reaching out
because of the things which are
happening today.

Jesus said in Luke 21:26 NKJV:
26 “men’s hearts failing them from fear
and the expectation of those things
which are coming on the earth, for the
powers of the heavens will be
shaken.”

We are at that state for sure; we've
come into that particular orbit today.
• These things are disturbing to us but
let us understand that God is still
running the affairs of this world.
• He is still in charge.
• It hasn't slipped out from His hands.

God is not sitting on the edge of His
throne, biting His fingernails.
• He is not nervous today about what
is happening.
• God is carrying out His plan and
purpose, and He is overruling the
sin of man.

This should be very comforting to the
child of God in this day.

Assyria had served God's purpose and
is now to be destroyed.
The destruction of Nineveh, according
to the details given in this written
prophecy, is almost breathtaking.

This is a message, therefore, of comfort to
a people who live in fear of a powerful and
godless nation:
God will destroy any godless nation.
• All you need do is to pick up your
history book and start reading at the
beginning of written history.

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You will find that every great world
power went down, and they went
down at a time when they were given
over to wine, women, and song.

When a nation reaches that place, you
can be sure that it is on the skids and
will soon pass out into the limbo of
the lost.
That is where all the former great
nations of the world are today.

Where is the United States today?
We are on the way down, my friend.
Dr. J. Gresham Machen said years ago,
"America today is going downhill with
a godly ancestry."

America, which has had a godly
ancestry, is going downhill on a
toboggan.
And Dr. Machen added, "God pity
America when we reach the bottom
of the hill."

How close are we to the bottom of
the hill?
J.Vernon Magee said, “I'm no prophet
nor the son of a prophet. It seems to
me like we're getting very close to the
bottom of the hill.”

The reason that the Book of Nahum is
such a remarkable prophecy is that it
speaks right into our own situation
today.

"The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite
(probably in Galilee)."
• This is all that is known of the writer of this
book.
• Nahum was apparently born in the northern
kingdom of Israel, and that was his native
country; but he moved to the southern part
of Judah sometime when he was very young.

He had a great concern for the
northern kingdom, and he apparently
was alive when it was carried away
into captivity by Assyria.

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His message is of the judgment that is
coming upon Nineveh.

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Nahum 1:2 NKJV
2 God is jealous, and the LORD avenges;
The LORD will take vengeance on His
adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies;

Jealous, according toWebster's
dictionary, means "exacting exclusive
devotion."
God is a jealous God, and He demands
that His people worship Him alone.

God knows that He is a loving,
benevolent FatherWho has your best
interest at heart.
He knows that if you give any of your
devotion to anyone or anything else
that would not work out best for you.

God alone is able to make all things to
work for your good (Romans 8).
Romans 8:28 NKJV
28 And we know that all things work
together for good to those who love God,
to those who are the called according to
His purpose.

Romans 8:32 NKJV
32 HeWho did not spare His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how
shall He not with Him also freely give
us all things?

Romans 8:37-39 NKJV
37Yet in all these things we are more
than conquerors through HimWho
loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that
neither death nor life, nor angels nor
principalities nor powers, nor things
present nor things to come,

39 nor height nor depth, nor any other
created thing, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:37-39 NKJV

When any people, no matter who they
are, turn to idolatry or turn to sin (all
that which is contrary to God), and
when they give themselves to it, God
is jealous.
• God is not jealous because He is
selfish but for your best good.

Exodus 20:3-6 NKJV
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved
image—any likeness of anything that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth;

5 you shall not bow down to them nor
serve them. For I, the LORD your God,
am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children to the
third and fourth generations of those
who hate Me,

6 but showing mercy to thousands, to
those who love Me and keep My
commandments.
Exodus 20:3-6 NKJV

God loves you - it does not make any
difference who you are, you cannot
keep Him from loving you.
You can, however, get into a place
where you will not experience the love
of God.

When you put up an umbrella of sin,
the sunshine of God's love will not fall
on you (but it is still there for you).
You can put up the umbrella of
indifference.

Psalm 14:1 NKJV
1 The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”

You can put up the umbrella by turning
your back on Him and not doing His will.
• There are several different umbrellas
you can put up that will keep the love
of God from shining upon you, but
you cannot keep Him from loving you.

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the
only unpardonable sin, is the state of
continued unbelief.
There is no pardon for a person who
dies in unbelief.

http://regenerationandrepentance.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/01.jpg
Continual rejection of the Holy Spirit’s
promptings to trust in Jesus Christ is
the unpardonable blasphemy against
Him.

John 3:36 NKJV
36 “He who believes in the Son has
everlasting life; and he who does not
believe the Son shall not see life, but
the wrath of God abides on him.”

The only condition wherein someone
would have no forgiveness is if he is
not among the “whoever believes in
Him,” for it is he who “rejects the
Son.”

1 John 5:11-13 NKJV
11 And this is the testimony: that God
has given us eternal life, and this life is
in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has
life; he who does not have the Son of
God does not have life.

13These things I have written to you
who believe in the name of the Son of
God, that you may know that you
have eternal life, and that you may
continue to believe in the name of the
Son of God.
1 John 5:11-13 NKJV

Since God loves you, He is actually
jealous for you which means that He
wants you.
God doesn't want what you've got,
what you possess -- He wants you!

He's jealous when you give yourself,
your time, and your substance to
other things.
When you give yourself to sin, God is
jealous.

A good husband is one who is going to
love his wife and want her above
everything else and he won't want to
share her with anybody.

If a lady says that she doesn’t have a
jealous husband then she does not have
a good relationship with him.
• God very frankly says, "I'm a jealous
God. I want you. I don't want to share
you with the sin of the world and with
the Devil's crowd and with idolatry.

I don't want to share you -- I want you to
belong to Me."
There is nothing wrong with God's saying
that He is jealous, and Nahum says, "God
is jealous."
I'm glad that He is.

Nahum 1:2a NKJV
2a God is jealous, and the LORD avenges;

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There is a great difference between
revenge and avenge.

Romans 12:19 NKJV
19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves,
but rather give place to wrath; for it is
written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will
repay,” says the Lord.

God says to you and me, "Don't you indulge in
vengeance because, to begin with, you will
never exercise it in the right way.
Turn it over to Me.
I handle it without any heat of anger.
I handle it in justice.

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I will do the right thing.
And I know all the issues – I know
everything about it."

God is still on the throne, and He is
still running things.
God is “furious” and He does not take
any delight in the sin of man.
God hates sin, and He is furious at it.

Nahum 1:2b NKJV
2b The LORD will take vengeance on His
adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His
enemies;

http://www.interpretingthetimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Ezekiel-38.jpg
God is glorified when He judges a
nation, as we see especially in
Ezekiel 38.

When Assyria went down, God was
glorified in that.
They were a brutal, hated, sinful
nation, and God brought them down
to wrack and ruin and into the debris
and dust of the earth.

He is glorified when He does things
like that.
Maybe you don't like it, but theWord
of God says that that is the way He
moves.

I would suggest that you get yourself
reconciled to the way God does
things, because that is the way they
are going to be done.

Nahum 1:3a NKJV
3a The LORD is slow to anger and great in
power,
And will not at all acquit the wicked.

In verse 3 Nahum puts down a great
principle by which God not only
judged Assyria (and Nineveh, the
capital, in particular), but also the way
that God judges the world and will
judge the world in the future.

"The LORD is slow to anger."
Nahum makes this very clear.
God had sent Jonah to Nineveh to tell
them that they were to be destroyed
because of their awful sin.

They were known as probably the
most brutal people in the ancient
world, and God said that judgment
would come to them.
• But the entire city of Nineveh
repented and turned to God at that
time.

Obviously, the message of Jonah
penetrated the entire empire, and
there was a great change.
We would say that a great revival
arose up but it didn't last very long.

It has been characteristic of the great
waves of revival which have come
that they have never lasted
permanently.

TheWesleyan revival had tremendous
impact upon England and this
country, as well as side effects upon
other nations, but it was of brief
duration.

There has been some carry-over from
it, of course, even down to the
present hour.
This is true also of the great revivals
under Moody in this country, when
entire cities moved toward God.

Nahum says that God is slow to anger,
but this great city of Nineveh has now
turned back to its old ways.
• Over one hundred years after Jonah,
Nahum comes to say, "The clock has
struck twelve, and time has run out.
There is no longer any delay.

Judgment is coming!"
"The LORD... will not at all acquit the
wicked."
• The justice of God is seen in His
judgment because He is slow to
anger.

It took Him over one hundred years to
get around to executing judgment
against this city, and He is just and
righteous in doing it.
• He is not going to let the wicked off
and never will He let the wicked off
unless they turn to Him.

Unless they accept Christ as their
Savior because He paid the penalty
for their sins, they will have to be
judged for their sins.
God is never going to let them off --
He is just and righteous.

The forgiveness of God is different
from our forgiveness.
When somebody does us wrong, we
say, "I forgive you" -- and that's it.
A penalty has not been paid.

Our forgiveness is generally for
something that is just a trifle.
But when God forgives, the penalty
has already been paid.
God is the Judge of this earth.

He is not only its Creator, He is not
only running it, but He is also the
moral ruler of this universe.
God is not a crooked judge, you
cannot slip something under the table
to get Him to let you off easy.

You cannot tell Him that you belong
to a certain family, that your father is
very influential and will be able to get
you off.

Nor can you say you are wealthy and
will see that the Judge loses His job,
nor that you will pay Him just a little
extra to be lenient with you.
You cannot deal with God like that.

God must judge the wicked, and we
are all told that the heart of man is
desperately wicked -- not just a little
wicked, but desperately wicked (see
Jer. 17:9).

Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV
9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?

You and I do not really know the
depths of the iniquity that is in our
hearts; we do not know what we are
capable of.

Now God cannot acquit the wicked;
therefore, if we are going to be
acquitted, Someone must pay the
penalty.
That is the reason He has provided a
Redeemer for us.

When an individual or a nation turns
its back on God's redemption
provided now in Christ, then
judgment must follow -- there is no
other alternative.

Nahum 1:3b NKJV
3b The LORD has His way
In the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet.

God today moves even in nature, the
storms which come are under His
control, and they serve His purpose.
• So-called Mother Nature doesn't
really have anything to do with it,
Mother Nature does what God tells
Mother Nature to do.

Our God is the Creator, and He is the
Redeemer, and He is also the Judge
and He alone is running things.
Just leave it in His hands, and rest in
Him today because He is good, He is
gracious, and He is the Savior.

Nahum 1:4 NKJV
4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
And dries up all the rivers.
Bashan and Carmel wither,
And the flower of Lebanon wilts.

God had already shown His power to
do this -- He dried up the Red Sea and
the Jordan River.
Bashan, Carmel, and Lebanon are the
three fertile areas in that land.

Carmel is actually theValley of
Esdraelon, and Megiddo was the main
city there.
This is one of the most fertile spots on
the topside of the earth.

When you go farther north, along the
cost of Lebanon all the way from
Beirut down to the ruins of oldTyre,
you see beautiful country.

In the spring of the year, you can see
the fruit trees blooming and in the
distance the Anti-Lebanons covered
with snow.

The fruit trees -- apricots, peaches,
cherries, bananas, and citrus fruit --
everything is grown there, and the
land is very fertile.
Nahum says that a drought is to
come.

Nahum 1:5 NKJV
5 The mountains quake before Him,
The hills melt,
And the earth heaves at His presence,
Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.

He is the Creator, and He's also the
Preserver of this universe -- He's the
OneWho holds it together.
"The mountains quake at Him, and
the hills melt" refers, of course, to
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ad/NMSZBig.gif
New Madrid fault.

The New Madrid fault zone is six
times bigger than the San Andreas
fault zone in California and a major
Midwestern earthquake may cause
6,000 deaths and $450 billion in
damage, a U.S. government-
sponsored study said.

Major Quake in U.S. Midwest Might
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By Brian K. Sullivan [portions cut]
Nov. 21, 2008 (Bloomberg)

There is a 90 percent chance that an
earthquake of magnitude 6 or 7 will
strike the area in the next 50 years,
said the study.

Elnashai said earthquakes of equal
magnitude would be felt over a larger
area in the New Madrid zone than in
California because of the composition
of the soil.

The New Madrid seismic zone was the
site of massive earthquakes in 1811-
1812 that rerouted the Mississippi
River.

Nahum 1:6 NKJV
6 Who can stand before His indignation?
And who can endure the fierceness of
His anger?
His fury is poured out like fire,
And the rocks are thrown down by
Him.

"Who can stand before His
indignation? And who can endure the
fierceness of His anger?"
This question was directed to the
people of Nineveh who had rejected
the mercy of this all-powerful God.

Does the unsaved have the answer to
that question?
Maybe they are depending upon their
own righteousness and goodness.

Do they really believe that one can
stand in the presence of a holy God
Who absolutely hates sin and intends
to judge it?
Is anyone able to stand in His holy
presence without Christ?

The very brilliant Oxford don, C. S.
Lewis, wrote a story in which he tells
about a bus trip that was run from
Hell to Heaven.
• It was the sort of tour in which
those who were in Hell could take a
bus trip to Heaven.

The bus was filled and, when it arrived
in Heaven, the driver parked the bus
in a parking lot.
The driver told everyone on the bus,
"At four o'clock this afternoon, the bus
is going to leave and head for home."

Home just happened to be Hell and at
four o'clock that afternoon, the bus
was filled -- everyone was back even
though the bus driver told them,
"If you want to stay, you can stay."
Why didn't they stay?

It was because they had found out
they had no place in Heaven.
One of the great saints of the past put
it this way: "I would rather go to Hell
without sin than go to Heaven with
sin."

"Who can stand before His indignation?"
If you don't have a Savior, how are you
going to stand as a sinner in the presence
of a holy God?
Do you think that you've got a chance?

Revelation 6:12-17 NKJV
Sixth Seal: Cosmic Disturbances
12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal,
and behold, there was a great earthquake;
and the sun became black as sackcloth of
hair, and the moon became like blood.

13 And the stars of heaven fell to the
earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs
when it is shaken by a mighty wind.
14Then the sky receded as a scroll
when it is rolled up, and every
mountain and island was moved out
of its place.

15 And the kings of the earth, the great
men, the rich men, the commanders,
the mighty men, every slave and
every free man, hid themselves in the
caves and in the rocks of the
mountains,

16 and said to the mountains and
rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the
face of Him who sits on the throne
and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For
the great day of His wrath has come,
and who is able to stand?”
Revelation 6:12-17 NKJV

You don't have a ghost of a chance,
my friend.
• You cannot stand there without a
Savior.
• To be able to stand in His presence
is what it means to be accepted
into the beloved and to be in Christ.

This is a tremendous principle that
Nahum is putting down here.
God must judge sin.
There is something radically wrong
with God if He doesn't judge sin.

Nahum's description of the power and
the anger of God was to reassure the
people of Judah of the protection of
their all-powerful God when Assyria
would invade their land.

Nahum 1:7 NKJV
7 The LORD is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
And He knows those who trust in Him.

"The LORD is good."
Remember that the psalmist said,
"O give thanks unto the LORD, for He
is good: for His mercy endures
forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD
say so..." (Ps. 107:1-2).

If the redeemed don't say so,
nobody's going to say so.
God is good -- that's wonderful to
know.

If you are not saved, it is simply
because you will not come to Him, for
He can save you and He will save you.
God is good -- that is an axiom of
Scripture and an axiom of life.
"The LORD is good."

"A strong hold in the day of trouble."
Are you having any trouble?
Do you want to get to a good shelter?
The Lord is that shelter which you need.

“He knows those who trust in Him”.
I'm very happy that I'm not going to
get lost in the shuffle, that I won't get
lost in the multitudes.

The multitudes which are in the
Orient almost shock us.
And in Egypt, in the Arab countries,
and inTurkey there are multitudes of
people.

He doesn't need a computer to record
your name.
He has you written on His heart; He's
written your name on the palms of His
hands.

Nahum 1:8 NKJV
8 But with an overflowing flood
He will make an utter end of its place,
And darkness will pursue His enemies.

The Lord will overwhelm and destroy
the Assyrians.
"An overrunning flood" pictures a river
that is overflowing its banks and
causing devastation as it moves.

It is believed that this refers to the
invading army of the Babylonians
which overcame Nineveh.

The Greek historian Ctesias of the
fifth century B.C. records that the
Babylonian army was able to invade
Nineveh when theTigris River
suddenly overflowed and washed
away the floodgates of the city and
the foundations of the palace.

"Darkness will pursue His enemies"
raises a question regarding the place
of permanent punishment.
There is more said in Scripture about
darkness being the lot of the lost than
there is about fire.

Darkness is mentioned here -- "and
darkness shall pursue His enemies."
Even the Lord Jesus used the term: "But
the children of the kingdom shall be cast
out into outer darkness: there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt.
8:12; & Matt. 22:13).

Literal fire could only affect the
physical, never the spiritual.
• But, oh, the fires of a conscience
that has been suddenly alerted to
the awful thing one did in rejecting
Christ and in not doing the things
he should have done.

Think of the darkness of a lost
eternity!
Darkness is a better and more fearful
description of hell than fire is.

Exodus 10:21 NKJV
The Ninth Plague: Darkness
21Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch
out your hand toward heaven, that there
may be darkness over the land of Egypt,
darkness which may even be felt.”

End
ThruThe Bible with J.Vernon McGee.

Begin
Bible Exposition Commentary (BE
Series) - OldTestament -The Bible
Exposition Commentary –The
Prophets.

The City Is No More
Nahum 1-3
QueenVictoria was celebrating sixty
years on the British throne when
Rudyard Kipling published his poem
"Recessional."

Not everybody in Great Britain liked
the poem because it punctured
national pride at a time when the
empire was at its peak.

"Recessional" was a warning that
other empires had vanished from the
stage of history and theirs might
follow in their train.
God was still the Judge of the nations.

Kipling wrote:
Far-called, our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh andTyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

The prophet Nahum would have
applauded the poem, especially Kipling's
reference to Nineveh, for it was Nahum
who wrote the OldTestament book that
vividly describes the destruction of
Nineveh, the event that marked the
beginning of the end for the Assyrian
Empire.

Nahum made it clear that God is
indeed the Judge of the nations, and
that "pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall"
(Prov. 16:18, NKJV).

In the seventh century B.C., the very
mention of Nineveh brought fear to
people's hearts, but today, Nineveh is
mentioned primarily by Bible
students, archaeologists, and people
interested in ancient history.

In his brief book, Nahum makes
declarations about God and Nineveh.
1. God Is Jealous: NinevehWill Fall
(Nahum 1:1-15)
2. God speaks of Himself
(Nahum 1:2-8).

The prophet characterizes his inspired
message as both a "burden" and a
"vision," something he felt and
something he saw.

The word translated "burden" simply
means "to lift up" and was often used
to describe prophetic messages that
announced judgment.

Isaiah used the word ten times in his
prophecy as he wrote about "the
burden of Babylon" (Isa. 13:1), "the
burden of Moab" (15:1), etc.

These burdens came as a result of the
visions God gave His prophets
("seers") of dreadful events
determined for the nations.
• It wasn't easy to be a prophet and
see what lay in the future, and they
felt the burden of their messages.

2) God speaks of Himself
(Nahum 1:2-8).
Three important words in this paragraph
need to be understood because they all
relate to the character of God: jealousy,
vengeance, and anger.

Jealousy is a sin if it means being
envious of what others have and
wanting to possess it, but it's a virtue
if it means cherishing what we have
and wanting to protect it.

A faithful husband and wife are
jealous over one another and do
everything they can to keep their
relationship exclusive.

"Jealous" and "zealous" come from
the same root, for when you're jealous
over someone, you're zealous to
protect the relationship.

Since God made everything and owns
everything, He is envious of no one,
but since He is the only true God, He is
jealous over His glory, His name, and
the worship and honor that are due to
Him alone.

In the second commandment, God
prohibited the worship of idols and
backed up the prohibition with this
reason: "for I, the Lord thy God, am a
jealous God" (Ex. 20:5).

In the Book of Hosea, we learn that
the Lord was "married" to Israel in a
covenant relationship, and any breach
of that covenant aroused His jealous
love.

He will not share His people with false
gods any more than a husband would
share his wife with his neighbor.
"For you shall worship no other god,
for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is
a jealous God" (34:14, NKJV).

"For the Lord your God is a consuming
fire, a jealous God" (Deut. 4:24, NKJV;
and see 6:15; 32:16, 21; 1 Kings 14:22).

Nineveh was a city given over to
iniquity, especially idolatry and
cruelty, and God's jealous love burned
against their pride and willful breaking
of His law.

In Scripture, vengeance is usually
presented as a sin.
• Both Jesus and Paul warned about
it (Matt. 5:38-48; Rom. 12:17-21).
• But a just and holy God cannot see
people flouting His law and do
nothing about it.

"It is mine to avenge; I will repay.... I
will take vengeance on my
adversaries and repay those who hate
me" (Deut. 32:35, 41, NIV).
• The people prayed to God to
avenge them when other nations
attacked them.

"O Lord God, toWhom vengeance
belongs—O God, toWhom vengeance
belongs, shine forth!" (Ps. 94:1, NKJV)
• When God takes vengeance by
judging people, it's because He is a
holy God and is jealous (zealous)
for His holy law.

God's anger isn't like human anger,
which can be selfish and out of
control.
His is a holy anger, a righteous
indignation against all that defies His
authority and disobeys His law.

God's people ought to exercise a holy
anger against sin (Eph. 4:26), for, as
HenryWard Beecher said, "A person
that does not know how to be angry
does not know how to be good."
• He was speaking, of course, about
righteous anger that opposes evil.

If we can stand by and do nothing
while innocent, helpless people are
mistreated and exploited, then
something is wrong with us.
• "Anger is one of the sinews of the
soul," wroteThomas Fuller. "He
who lacks it has a maimed mind."

In Nahum 1:2, Nahum wrote that God
was "furious" ("filled with wrath,"
NIV); and in verse 6, he described
God's "indignation" as so fierce and
powerful that it is "poured out like
fire" with the power to "shatter" the
rocks (NIV).

However, verse 3 assures us that God's
wrath isn't a fit of rage or a temper
tantrum; for "the Lord is slow to
anger" (see Jonah 4:2; Ex. 34:6; Num.
14:18).

God is so powerful that if His anger
were not a holy anger, and if He were
not "slow to anger," He could easily
destroy everything.

He controls the forces of nature
(Nahum 1:3); He opened the Red Sea
for the people of Israel to march
through, and he can turn off the rain
and make the most fruitful areas of
the land languish (v. 4).

At Sinai, He made the mountain shake
(Ex. 19:18), and when He pleases, He
can cause the people of the world to
tremble (Heb. 12:18-21).

The God that Nahum introduces to us is
a jealous God who is angry at sin
(Nahum 1:2), but He is also a good God
who cares for His people (v.7).
• Nahum invites us (as Paul put it) to
"consider the goodness and severity
of God" (Rom. 11:22, NKJV).

"God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16), but He is
also light (1:5), and His love is a holy
love.
He is a refuge for those who trust
Him, but He is an "overwhelming
flood" to those who are His enemies.

End
Bible Exposition Commentary (BE
Series) - OldTestament -The Bible
Exposition Commentary –The
Prophets.

The Plan of Hope & Salvation
John 3:16 NKJV
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 14:6 NKJV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23a NKJV
23a For the wages of sin is death,
• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.
• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died
in this life to pay the penalty for our sins.
• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the second
death explained in Revelation 21:8.

Revelation 21:8 NKJV
8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable,
murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and
all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns
with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Romans 6:23b NKJV
23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.

Romans 5:8 NKJV
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in
that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Revelation 21:7 NKJV
7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will
be his God and he shall be My son.”
•Romans 10:9-10 explains to us how to accept Jesus
as our Savior.

Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from
the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10:13 NKJV
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be
saved.”

If you have questions or would like to know more,
Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-
979-1900 or http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/

03 March 1, 2015, Nahum 1;1-8 God Is

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03 March 1, 2015, Nahum 1;1-8 God Is