So let's just be honest with each other this
morning. How many of you have read the book of
Nahum? Long time ago. Okay, that counts. All
right, Wes. Okay, about six others of you. Nahum
is one that we totally skip over, mainly because
of how small it is. It's not the smallest of
the minor prophets, but it definitely sometimes
just kind of gets passed by, because when you
go through the major prophets, those are the
big ones, the long ones, the weeping ones. It
gets kind of exhausting. We get to the small
ones, and we get to, okay, we know the ones that
we kind of can pull from, namely Micah, because
we can't name half of them. them, and then we're
like, let's just get to the New Testament. But
I think we do such a disservice because the Minor
Prophets hold so much Jesus in them, pointing
us as it actually is like recapping a bunch of
the history. So we're actually going to be in
a history that this church knows very well because
who can remember the sermon series for lunch
and a conversation with Pastor Jim, okay? Who
can remember the sermon series we were in when
COVID came through and we went kind of just online?
Oh, someone answered before. I know you rose
your hand. They cheated, Jill. Sorry. They cheated.
I don't know who it was, but it was Jonah. Right?
Jonah, I will always remember that sermon series,
getting excited for Jonah, preaching here with
a camera right here. But we were in Jonah, which
a lot of us know that story. If you've been in
church any kind of part of life, you know the
Jonah, or you know at least the veggie tales
around Jonah. That came out pretty much when
that song came out. Thanks, Evan. And so understand
that we're going to see a little bit of a recap.
of not Jonah himself, but the town of Nineveh.
I knew a bunch of you were going to get it, so
I didn't put anything on it. But Nineveh. But
my first question is, when you think of the concept
of loving fiercely, I use that term specifically.
When you hear that someone loves fiercely or
you try to love fiercely, what does that mean?
If you're new here, I ask questions. We have
a dialogue. It hopefully keeps you guys from
falling asleep, but also it brings about, I think,
a conversation. This can't just be me. It's got
to be all of us. When you think of the idea of
loving fiercely, okay, keep it appropriate, but
what does that mean? What do you think of when
someone loves fiercely? Up in the balcony. You
even rose your hand and then forgot the words,
right? That's, oh, you remember. Love with no
conditions, okay, all right. We got the ball
rolling now. To love fiercely. What? Won't be
deterred, right? When Rick saw Joe that first
time, he knew, right, that he will not be deterred.
Though she ran, he ran after her, okay, and eventually
got her. Loves fiercely. Oh, something else was
said over here, but it was Mike Scott, and he
talks a lot. Okay, others. Loves fiercely. Intensely,
absolutely. How about over here, our annex crew?
What does it mean to love when you think of loving
fiercely? What? With your whole heart. Sure,
love it. Two more. Unconditional, okay? I know
that baby's trying to say something. We just
don't understand what it is yet. One day. Them
above yourself. That's a really good one. Them
above yourself. We're going to start the conversation
when love becomes fierce. Okay? For a lot of
us, we are comfortable with the fact that God
forgives us. We actually love that. It would
be really hard to be a believer if God wasn't
a forgiving God. Think about that for a minute.
That is a total upset of your apple cart. Why
would you worship a God that doesn't forgive?
It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. God is
a forgiving God. We're told that from very early
on. We grow into that understanding. A mature
believer goes, I don't need to take advantage
of that. Insert conviction here. We are very
comfortable with a God who forgives. We are far
less comfortable, maybe to the point where we
struggle, with a God who judges. For a lot of
us, we'd rather just kind of skip by the judging
and go right to the forgiveness. If we're being
honest, we totally would. We struggle with that.
We love things like mercy, compassion, patience
by God. Not so much when we have to show it,
but when God shows patience. We love God's gentleness.
But unfortunately, the minor prophet, prophet
but minor is book -sized, Nahum, brings us something
a lot harder to deal with today. And it's just
as biblical as a compassionate, merciful, loving,
patient, gentle God. The compassionate God. Wonderful.
We're going to look a little bit on the flip
side. The fierce love of God. If Hosea from week
one showed us that God pursues wanderers, Joel
then showed us that God who restores what is
ruined, Amos shows us a God who reshapes our
lives with justice, Obadiah showed us a God who
defends his people, last week Micah showed us
a God who humbles his people, Nahum now shows
us a God who confronts evil itself. The central
truth for this message this morning, we'll come
back to it at the end as well, God's chesed does
not ignore oppression. God's chesed rises up
against it. But here's the kicker. It rises up
even more so when believer oppresses believer.
Yes, the nations will oppress believers. We see
that throughout history. God shows up. Because
a God who truly loves cannot remain passive in
the face of cruelty. So as we do with every of
these sermons, let's get a little breakdown.
Little Nahum 101. Who is Nahum? He was a comforter
with a hard message. The word Nahum, the name
itself, means comfort. So for all those expecting,
if you're looking for a name that we don't hear
often, May I offer this, right? Nahum, is there
a first or a middle name? It means comfort. It's
a good thing. And it feels strange because the
entire book is about the destruction of Nineveh,
which was the capital of Assyria at the time.
So a book that is named Comfort has to do with
the destruction of people. But you see, in the
grand scheme of the history, for God's people,
this is not bad news. This comfort is different.
There's actually comfort in these words. Let's
just do a little bit of history. Assyria at the
time was the dominant empire in the ancient world.
It was a brutal military system. When they went
in, they went in to wipe out everything. It was
politically ruthless. It was famous for torture,
deportation, and mass executions. We're talking
bad, real dark. They had destroyed the northern
kingdom of Israel roughly 722 BC. They humiliated
Judah on a regular basis. They terrorized the
region. Assyrian inscriptions, they bragged openly
about flaying enemies while they were still alive.
They would stack body parts on their gates to
show people how fierce they were. They were all
about destroying other people. Just completely.
Wait, but this was Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital
of this, didn't we see this guy? Swallowed up
by a big fish, not a whale. Big fish go and didn't
they relent? Right? Because what does he cry
out, Lisa? You say this all the time for some
reason at staff meetings still. What does he
say? What does he cry out with the bell? Forty
more days and Nineveh is going to be in the pocket.
And who remembers what napaket meant for dinner
in conversation with Pastor Jim? Yeah, don't.
It's shoops. But for dinner, what does napaket
mean? Who remembers? Nope. Nope. Changed. That's
what. Everyone thinks it because that's what
people would do. You see the people with the
bells, that the world's coming to an end. They
think destroyed. They think all of the things
that were said over here. But what in a pocket
actually meant, they were going to be made different.
And we see the king relents. They do the ashes,
all of the things. And what happens? Jonah gets
mad. He pouts on the outside of the gate. Although
that's a different sermon series, right? Different
rhyme for a different time. But Nineveh was not
misunderstood. This is what happened. Yeah, they
got the camp high. They got the Jonah high. But
it wasn't deep enough to be a mature faith. Assyrians
come in and they just completely take over. Evil
had become institutionalized. And yet, remarkably,
God has shown mercy to them once before. This
was a part of their heritage. You know, decades
earlier, they were shown grace. Yet they have
wandered. About 100 years earlier. They repented
briefly. They were spared. They returned to their
cruel ways. And now Nahum comes with a message.
His message is this. Nineveh. Munster Church.
Friends of Munster Church. Church virtual, the
same holds true for us. God's patience has limits.
God's mercy does not excuse perpetual violence.
God will act. God will act. That is a slide.
So let's get that slide up there. God's patience
has limits. I think it's the next one. Keep going.
Okay, so this is Nahum 1 .1, right? This is just
the history of that, his word comfort. There
we go. God's patience has limits. God's mercy
does not excuse perpetual violence. God will
act. So, not only does Jonah, right, in his way
100 years earlier, in a pocket, now Nahum has
a message. But here we're going to see the character
of God. Come to life. Slow to anger. Great in
power. And we're going to read Nahum 1, 2, and
3. The Lord is a jealous and avenging God. The
Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes
vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath
for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and
great in power. And the Lord will by no means
clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and
storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
Nahum begins not with Nineveh, but with God himself.
The Lord is a jealous and avenging God, slow
to anger and great in power. We may look at this
as a contradiction in the way our minds might
work, but it's not. It's actually covenant theology.
We see this throughout the Old Testament. We
see this come and kind of was brought to perfection
in Jesus. What does this mean? God is slow to
anger. God is patient with sinners. And God is
merciful to the repentant. But he also is just,
holy. Opposed to evil and faithful to protect
his people. God's love is a fierce love. The
same God who spared Nineveh in the time of Jonah
now rises against Nineveh in the time of Nahum.
Why? Because chesed, this everlasting love of
God that we're talking about, includes moral
seriousness. God is serious about the way he
loves. The people that we hold close to us, we
are serious in the way that we love them. If
we weren't, right, take your spouse or a really
good friend or maybe your adult children, right,
because your relationship maybe with your little
kids is not quite there yet. But when you have
someone close to you and they do something to
harm you, you feel that. Normally. When people
come into my office and want to talk about how
they're mad at somebody or they're angry at somebody,
it's not usually the stranger that cut them off
on the highway. It's usually a spouse. It's usually
a brother or a sister, a friend, an elder or
a deacon that they've gotten to know. People
that are close to you can cut the most deep in
your life. Yeah, and that's part of that fierce
love you have with them. If you were just indifferent,
right? I see my friend Eli over there, a guy
who the Lord has brought into my life seven years
ago, and there is a deep love one for another.
I want to love him fiercely. Sometimes he runs
away, but when he receives it, he likes it. But
if he were to do something to hurt me, and I
was just kind of like, eh, whatever. If I was
indifferent to that hurt, there wouldn't be a
whole lot of love between us, would there? No,
because you wouldn't really care. What we're
talking about is love that we actually care about.
Relationships that mean something to us. God's
hesed includes moral seriousness. Love that can
never confront evil is not love. Marriages that
are built on passive -aggressive natures really
isn't a marriage. Relationships that are built
on never willing to sit down and have the tough
conversations That connection isn't all that
great. The young couple or the engaged couple
or whoever that come to me and say, and I ask
them what it's like when they fight, and they
go, we don't fight. I go, you don't have a relationship.
Because there are times we're going to step in
it. We're going to hurt each other. And the love
is what boomerangs us back. That hesed boomerangs
us back to have those conversations. A love that
is tested and true. A weathered love or a weathered
relationship knows this kind of love. And we
can have that because of our next point that
God, the Lord is good and a stronghold. He's
the one holding it all together. How many of
you at the end or somewhere in your wedding ceremony
had the quarter three strands verse? That a cord
of three strands is not easily broken. How many
of you had that in your, how many of you probably
don't even remember what was said in your wedding?
But understanding that is the Jesus strand holding
it all together. Nahum is going to say something
astonishing now in verses 6 through 8. Who can
stand before his indignation? Who can endure
the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out
like a fire and the rocks are broken into pieces
by him. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the
day of trouble. He knows those who take refuge
in him, but with an overflowing flood, he will
make a complete end of his adversaries and will
pursue his enemies into darkness. There's something
astonishing here. Right in the middle of the
judgment language, Nahum inserts a psalm of comfort.
Why? Because this book is not primarily about
Nineveh. It is actually about Judah. It's about
God's people. God's people are small, threatened,
anxious, and oppressed. I don't know, maybe you're
finding yourself in those words this morning.
Maybe this season of life, you feel small, you
feel threatened, you feel anxious or oppressed.
And what is God saying through what he's saying
to Nineveh? God says, I am not only your judge,
I am your refuge, I know you, I protect you.
I don't know about you, but that's grace. Even
though you may get in a fight with your spouse,
a loved one, a child, whatever. You're still
going to protect them. You're still going to
be there for them. This is grace. Grace 101.
A preserving grace. The canons of Dort insist
that God preserves his people even amid persecution.
And God assures believers of his protection and
final victory. Nahum shows us judgment for the
oppressor is protection. for the oppressed. Let
me say that again. Judgment for the oppressor
is protection for the oppressed. This is hesed
in action. This is recognizing the oppression
going on, taking action to stop it, and caring
for the victims of it. This is God's love in
action. And what does this bring? The ultimate
fall of Nineveh. God ends oppression completely.
Chapters 2 and 3 describe Nineveh's fall in terrifying
detail. If you're like, hey, maybe tonight, right
before our kids go to bed, devotions, we're going
to go into Nahum. We're going to read it. Steer
clear of chapters 2 and 3. That won't go well.
And what's remarkable is Nahum actually predicts
Nineveh's destruction decades before it happens.
You see, in 612 B .C., Babylon invades, the Tigris
floods Nineveh's giant walls, the city is burned,
and Nineveh disappears from history. Bloop. Gone.
For centuries, skeptics doubted Nahum, but the
cool thing is, archaeologists uncovered parts
of Nineveh in the 1800s. It's just another way
the Bible brings things full circle, even in
our history, and I love it. Another rhyme for
another time. Nahum was right. But why does God
destroy Nineveh? Well, let's list their sins
one more time so we can remember. Nahum lists
their sins. Bloodshed, lies and plunder, sexual
exploitation, witchcraft and manipulation, cruelty
without remorse. Okay? Worth this, right? Worth
God's judgment? Absolutely. God says, behold,
I am against you. Chapter 3, verse 5. Probably
one of the most terrifying sentences in all of
Scripture. Let me put that on us. All of a sudden,
you get a message from the Lord. All of a sudden,
the Lord sits and meets with you, looks you square
in the eye, and says, insert your name here,
I am against you. I don't know if there's anything
more terrifying than that. I am against you.
And yet, for God's people, it's the most comforting
sentence in all of Scripture. Why? Because God
is against oppression. God is for the oppressed.
Always has been, always will be. Jesus brings
that to culmination in his Sermon on the Mount.
In his teaching in Matthew 25. So this is Chesed
opposing evil. and preserving the saints. God's
justice flows from his covenant love. God does
not judge randomly. He doesn't just kind of close
his eyes and say, and I'm going to judge you.
He doesn't spin a wheel. This is specific. He
judges because he loves righteousness, he loves
his people, and he hates cruelty. You want to
know the person that hates the sin in your life
more than you do? God does. And he says, come
with me, won't you, in hating your sin? Let's
do this together. He loves righteousness. He
loves his people. He hates cruelty. Grace 201,
Canons 1, verse 7, or Head 1, 7. God's dealings
flow from his sovereign will and gracious purpose.
God's sovereign will and gracious purpose for
your life is for you to love him uncontrollably
without any other things in the way and that
you would receive his love in return. That's
part of the plan. God's justice is not the opposite
of his grace. It is in defense of his grace.
The things you hold most dear to your life, you're
going to fight the fiercest to keep them. Hopefully,
it's the people and the values in your life,
not your stuff. But the things you hold most
dear to you, you will fight the most fierce.
Two, God preserves his people through oppression.
God does not remove suffering immediately, though
I know I wish he would too. He doesn't. He does
it in his will and his ways. But what does he
guarantee even in the midst of suffering? protection,
preservation, final vindication. Isaiah 43, when
you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
That doesn't mean he takes you, bloop, over the
waters and puts you on the other side. When you
go through the waters, I will be with you. He
doubles down, Isaiah. When you walk through the
fires of life, I will be with you. It's not an
if, it's a when. Welcome to faith. Welcome to
being a life of a believer. Not everything is
going to be unicorns and rainbows, right? It
sounds super boring anyway. But it's the understanding
when the hard things come, God is preserving
your life. Nahum says, Behold the feet of him
who bring good news, for never again shall the
worthless pass through you. This is deliverance
language. This is gospel language. This is victory
language that Paul then later brings into Romans
chapter 10 when he promises that God will be
with you. But you're going to suffer at times.
Life's not going to seem fair at times. But you
have to understand your perspective to God's
persevering perspective. God's reminding you
this morning, church, he's playing the long game
in your life. And he's asking, are you? Are you
just wanting the wins and the successes and the
comforts every second? Because when you want
that life, you're not trusting in God. Or you're
believing in some gospel that if you believe,
the money in your bank account will come. I'm
sorry, there's nothing in here that says that.
There's not. There never has been, there never
will be. But what does the canons help remind
us in Grace 301? That God will ultimately end
all oppression. Long game, long game. The canons
end with this hope. Christ will complete the
work, evil will ultimately be defeated, and the
church will be preserved. And it's kind of cool,
preaching that in a church that has been around
156 years. I don't know about you, that's kind
of cool. There's some beauty to that. Nahum is
getting eschological. He's pointing forward,
church triumphant, revelation. He's pointing
toward the final judgment, the fall of Babylon
and revelation, the triumph of Christ. Christ
isn't even a thought yet, and he's pointing towards
that. Chesed does not tolerate evil forever.
God's chesed promises a future without oppression.
So what can we take for the rest of our day and
our week today? What can we take with us? What
is Nahum trying to get us to understand about
living that hesed out? First, take God's oppression
seriously. Right? Or that God, sorry, God takes
oppression seriously. He does. If he takes it
seriously, we need to take it seriously. This
is a matter of victims of abuse, persecuted Christian,
marginalized communities, wounded families. God
takes that oppression seriously. We need to as
well. What does that look like in your life?
Nahum says God is not indifferent. He's not passive.
He's not confused. God sees. God remembers. God
will act. And maybe, just maybe, he's going to
act through you. Maybe, just maybe, he's going
to act through our church. Or I look around and
see other churches represented this morning.
Maybe he's going to do that. Maybe he's going
to use the cadet ministry, the GEMS ministry
to help and see the victims of oppressed. However
that works in a kid's life for that ministry.
Who knows? But God's going to do it. Second,
God is a refuge before he's a judge. Before God
destroys Nineveh. He offers Judah this promise.
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of
trouble. Grace comes before wrath. Refuge before
reckoning. Third, the church must reflect God's
protective chesed. If we are the church, we must
reflect. We must reflect this love. If God confronts
oppression, then his church must protect the
vulnerable, listen to the wounded, resist cruelty,
speak against abuse, and create safe spaces.
If the church isn't doing that, what is the church
doing? And pause. I've had to say this now because
inevitably I'll get an email or a text message.
It is not a political sermon. Don't make this
a political sermon. If you're receiving my words
and you're making it political, you're doing
it. I'm not. So that's on you. It's not on me.
This is not political. This is God -itical. Sorry,
that doesn't make any sense. This is God's hesed
at work. It's not with anger, but with courage
and compassion. Four, Jesus is the fulfillment
of Nahum. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord he's
the fulfillment. Because if he wasn't, that means
it's still going to happen this way. But Jesus
is the fulfillment. Where Nineveh fell under
judgment, Jesus fell under judgment for us. Where
Nineveh faced God's wrath, Jesus absorbed God's
wrath on the cross. Where oppression ended by
destruction, salvation comes to us via sacrifice.
Where oppression ended by destruction, salvation
comes to us by sacrifice. And because of Jesus,
these three things will always be true. Evil
will not win. Oppression will not last. And the
kingdom ultimately belongs to the Lord. The good
news of a just God is this. And I land the plane.
Nahum's final words are this. Behold, on the
mountains, the feet of him who brings good news.
You could read this book and go, good news. This
is not good news. I don't receive this as good
news. But friend, it is. It's good news because?
The tyrants fall. Cruelty ends. Victims are vindicated.
And God ultimately reigns. Remember, Hosea showed
us a God that pursues. Joel, a God who restores.
Amos, a God who reshapes. Obadiah, a God who
defends. Micah, a God who humbles. And today
Nahum. shows us a God who fights evil itself.
And that, above all else, is always good news.
Let's pray.