WEBVTT 00:00:02.379 --> 00:00:04.379 So let's just be honest with each other this 00:00:04.379 --> 00:00:07.259 morning. How many of you have read the book of 00:00:07.259 --> 00:00:12.220 Nahum? Long time ago. Okay, that counts. All 00:00:12.220 --> 00:00:15.480 right, Wes. Okay, about six others of you. Nahum 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:17.940 is one that we totally skip over, mainly because 00:00:17.940 --> 00:00:20.679 of how small it is. It's not the smallest of 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:23.379 the minor prophets, but it definitely sometimes 00:00:23.379 --> 00:00:26.280 just kind of gets passed by, because when you 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:28.960 go through the major prophets, those are the 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:31.039 big ones, the long ones, the weeping ones. It 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:33.219 gets kind of exhausting. We get to the small 00:00:33.219 --> 00:00:36.140 ones, and we get to, okay, we know the ones that 00:00:36.140 --> 00:00:38.640 we kind of can pull from, namely Micah, because 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:40.539 we can't name half of them. them, and then we're 00:00:40.539 --> 00:00:42.619 like, let's just get to the New Testament. But 00:00:42.619 --> 00:00:44.719 I think we do such a disservice because the Minor 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:48.880 Prophets hold so much Jesus in them, pointing 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:52.179 us as it actually is like recapping a bunch of 00:00:52.179 --> 00:00:54.289 the history. So we're actually going to be in 00:00:54.289 --> 00:00:58.009 a history that this church knows very well because 00:00:58.009 --> 00:01:01.189 who can remember the sermon series for lunch 00:01:01.189 --> 00:01:04.769 and a conversation with Pastor Jim, okay? Who 00:01:04.769 --> 00:01:08.069 can remember the sermon series we were in when 00:01:08.069 --> 00:01:12.609 COVID came through and we went kind of just online? 00:01:14.790 --> 00:01:17.129 Oh, someone answered before. I know you rose 00:01:17.129 --> 00:01:19.109 your hand. They cheated, Jill. Sorry. They cheated. 00:01:19.109 --> 00:01:21.719 I don't know who it was, but it was Jonah. Right? 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:24.620 Jonah, I will always remember that sermon series, 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:27.200 getting excited for Jonah, preaching here with 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:30.840 a camera right here. But we were in Jonah, which 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:33.680 a lot of us know that story. If you've been in 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:36.819 church any kind of part of life, you know the 00:01:36.819 --> 00:01:38.859 Jonah, or you know at least the veggie tales 00:01:38.859 --> 00:01:41.560 around Jonah. That came out pretty much when 00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:44.000 that song came out. Thanks, Evan. And so understand 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:46.519 that we're going to see a little bit of a recap. 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:53.019 of not Jonah himself, but the town of Nineveh. 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:54.140 I knew a bunch of you were going to get it, so 00:01:54.140 --> 00:01:56.680 I didn't put anything on it. But Nineveh. But 00:01:56.680 --> 00:01:59.439 my first question is, when you think of the concept 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:04.099 of loving fiercely, I use that term specifically. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:08.300 When you hear that someone loves fiercely or 00:02:08.300 --> 00:02:11.159 you try to love fiercely, what does that mean? 00:02:11.219 --> 00:02:13.000 If you're new here, I ask questions. We have 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:16.139 a dialogue. It hopefully keeps you guys from 00:02:16.139 --> 00:02:19.819 falling asleep, but also it brings about, I think, 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:22.099 a conversation. This can't just be me. It's got 00:02:22.099 --> 00:02:24.580 to be all of us. When you think of the idea of 00:02:24.580 --> 00:02:27.300 loving fiercely, okay, keep it appropriate, but 00:02:27.300 --> 00:02:31.659 what does that mean? What do you think of when 00:02:31.659 --> 00:02:39.580 someone loves fiercely? Up in the balcony. You 00:02:39.580 --> 00:02:41.860 even rose your hand and then forgot the words, 00:02:42.020 --> 00:02:46.900 right? That's, oh, you remember. Love with no 00:02:46.900 --> 00:02:49.599 conditions, okay, all right. We got the ball 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:56.620 rolling now. To love fiercely. What? Won't be 00:02:56.620 --> 00:02:59.960 deterred, right? When Rick saw Joe that first 00:02:59.960 --> 00:03:03.599 time, he knew, right, that he will not be deterred. 00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:07.699 Though she ran, he ran after her, okay, and eventually 00:03:07.699 --> 00:03:12.580 got her. Loves fiercely. Oh, something else was 00:03:12.580 --> 00:03:15.460 said over here, but it was Mike Scott, and he 00:03:15.460 --> 00:03:22.300 talks a lot. Okay, others. Loves fiercely. Intensely, 00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:25.560 absolutely. How about over here, our annex crew? 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:27.960 What does it mean to love when you think of loving 00:03:27.960 --> 00:03:34.039 fiercely? What? With your whole heart. Sure, 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:41.710 love it. Two more. Unconditional, okay? I know 00:03:41.710 --> 00:03:43.389 that baby's trying to say something. We just 00:03:43.389 --> 00:03:47.310 don't understand what it is yet. One day. Them 00:03:47.310 --> 00:03:51.590 above yourself. That's a really good one. Them 00:03:51.590 --> 00:03:55.030 above yourself. We're going to start the conversation 00:03:55.030 --> 00:04:01.250 when love becomes fierce. Okay? For a lot of 00:04:01.250 --> 00:04:04.990 us, we are comfortable with the fact that God 00:04:04.990 --> 00:04:08.349 forgives us. We actually love that. It would 00:04:08.349 --> 00:04:11.030 be really hard to be a believer if God wasn't 00:04:11.030 --> 00:04:12.990 a forgiving God. Think about that for a minute. 00:04:13.150 --> 00:04:16.509 That is a total upset of your apple cart. Why 00:04:16.509 --> 00:04:18.790 would you worship a God that doesn't forgive? 00:04:19.730 --> 00:04:23.769 It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. God is 00:04:23.769 --> 00:04:25.670 a forgiving God. We're told that from very early 00:04:25.670 --> 00:04:28.970 on. We grow into that understanding. A mature 00:04:28.970 --> 00:04:30.949 believer goes, I don't need to take advantage 00:04:30.949 --> 00:04:34.980 of that. Insert conviction here. We are very 00:04:34.980 --> 00:04:38.379 comfortable with a God who forgives. We are far 00:04:38.379 --> 00:04:40.899 less comfortable, maybe to the point where we 00:04:40.899 --> 00:04:45.800 struggle, with a God who judges. For a lot of 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:48.639 us, we'd rather just kind of skip by the judging 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:50.920 and go right to the forgiveness. If we're being 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:53.220 honest, we totally would. We struggle with that. 00:04:53.339 --> 00:04:58.040 We love things like mercy, compassion, patience 00:04:58.040 --> 00:05:00.620 by God. Not so much when we have to show it, 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:04.459 but when God shows patience. We love God's gentleness. 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:08.220 But unfortunately, the minor prophet, prophet 00:05:08.220 --> 00:05:11.379 but minor is book -sized, Nahum, brings us something 00:05:11.379 --> 00:05:15.879 a lot harder to deal with today. And it's just 00:05:15.879 --> 00:05:18.639 as biblical as a compassionate, merciful, loving, 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:23.019 patient, gentle God. The compassionate God. Wonderful. 00:05:23.399 --> 00:05:25.560 We're going to look a little bit on the flip 00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:30.959 side. The fierce love of God. If Hosea from week 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.839 one showed us that God pursues wanderers, Joel 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:37.019 then showed us that God who restores what is 00:05:37.019 --> 00:05:40.319 ruined, Amos shows us a God who reshapes our 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:44.160 lives with justice, Obadiah showed us a God who 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:46.879 defends his people, last week Micah showed us 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:50.800 a God who humbles his people, Nahum now shows 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:56.050 us a God who confronts evil itself. The central 00:05:56.050 --> 00:05:58.269 truth for this message this morning, we'll come 00:05:58.269 --> 00:06:01.509 back to it at the end as well, God's chesed does 00:06:01.509 --> 00:06:06.189 not ignore oppression. God's chesed rises up 00:06:06.189 --> 00:06:11.790 against it. But here's the kicker. It rises up 00:06:11.790 --> 00:06:16.230 even more so when believer oppresses believer. 00:06:18.269 --> 00:06:21.250 Yes, the nations will oppress believers. We see 00:06:21.250 --> 00:06:25.180 that throughout history. God shows up. Because 00:06:25.180 --> 00:06:28.100 a God who truly loves cannot remain passive in 00:06:28.100 --> 00:06:31.399 the face of cruelty. So as we do with every of 00:06:31.399 --> 00:06:32.959 these sermons, let's get a little breakdown. 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:37.139 Little Nahum 101. Who is Nahum? He was a comforter 00:06:37.139 --> 00:06:41.459 with a hard message. The word Nahum, the name 00:06:41.459 --> 00:06:45.920 itself, means comfort. So for all those expecting, 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:49.079 if you're looking for a name that we don't hear 00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:52.769 often, May I offer this, right? Nahum, is there 00:06:52.769 --> 00:06:55.389 a first or a middle name? It means comfort. It's 00:06:55.389 --> 00:06:57.810 a good thing. And it feels strange because the 00:06:57.810 --> 00:07:01.110 entire book is about the destruction of Nineveh, 00:07:01.110 --> 00:07:03.569 which was the capital of Assyria at the time. 00:07:03.889 --> 00:07:07.410 So a book that is named Comfort has to do with 00:07:07.410 --> 00:07:10.949 the destruction of people. But you see, in the 00:07:10.949 --> 00:07:13.389 grand scheme of the history, for God's people, 00:07:13.529 --> 00:07:18.670 this is not bad news. This comfort is different. 00:07:19.230 --> 00:07:21.490 There's actually comfort in these words. Let's 00:07:21.490 --> 00:07:23.910 just do a little bit of history. Assyria at the 00:07:23.910 --> 00:07:26.870 time was the dominant empire in the ancient world. 00:07:27.370 --> 00:07:31.709 It was a brutal military system. When they went 00:07:31.709 --> 00:07:34.509 in, they went in to wipe out everything. It was 00:07:34.509 --> 00:07:38.730 politically ruthless. It was famous for torture, 00:07:38.910 --> 00:07:42.660 deportation, and mass executions. We're talking 00:07:42.660 --> 00:07:45.259 bad, real dark. They had destroyed the northern 00:07:45.259 --> 00:07:49.540 kingdom of Israel roughly 722 BC. They humiliated 00:07:49.540 --> 00:07:52.199 Judah on a regular basis. They terrorized the 00:07:52.199 --> 00:07:57.259 region. Assyrian inscriptions, they bragged openly 00:07:57.259 --> 00:08:00.879 about flaying enemies while they were still alive. 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:04.459 They would stack body parts on their gates to 00:08:04.459 --> 00:08:07.540 show people how fierce they were. They were all 00:08:07.540 --> 00:08:12.029 about destroying other people. Just completely. 00:08:14.370 --> 00:08:17.990 Wait, but this was Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital 00:08:17.990 --> 00:08:20.769 of this, didn't we see this guy? Swallowed up 00:08:20.769 --> 00:08:24.750 by a big fish, not a whale. Big fish go and didn't 00:08:24.750 --> 00:08:27.129 they relent? Right? Because what does he cry 00:08:27.129 --> 00:08:29.370 out, Lisa? You say this all the time for some 00:08:29.370 --> 00:08:31.269 reason at staff meetings still. What does he 00:08:31.269 --> 00:08:35.769 say? What does he cry out with the bell? Forty 00:08:35.769 --> 00:08:38.009 more days and Nineveh is going to be in the pocket. 00:08:38.940 --> 00:08:44.120 And who remembers what napaket meant for dinner 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:47.899 in conversation with Pastor Jim? Yeah, don't. 00:08:47.899 --> 00:08:53.559 It's shoops. But for dinner, what does napaket 00:08:53.559 --> 00:09:07.299 mean? Who remembers? Nope. Nope. Changed. That's 00:09:07.299 --> 00:09:09.440 what. Everyone thinks it because that's what 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:12.460 people would do. You see the people with the 00:09:12.460 --> 00:09:14.360 bells, that the world's coming to an end. They 00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:16.980 think destroyed. They think all of the things 00:09:16.980 --> 00:09:19.200 that were said over here. But what in a pocket 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:23.179 actually meant, they were going to be made different. 00:09:24.019 --> 00:09:27.159 And we see the king relents. They do the ashes, 00:09:27.220 --> 00:09:30.039 all of the things. And what happens? Jonah gets 00:09:30.039 --> 00:09:34.000 mad. He pouts on the outside of the gate. Although 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:36.080 that's a different sermon series, right? Different 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:38.340 rhyme for a different time. But Nineveh was not 00:09:38.340 --> 00:09:43.059 misunderstood. This is what happened. Yeah, they 00:09:43.059 --> 00:09:45.779 got the camp high. They got the Jonah high. But 00:09:45.779 --> 00:09:50.220 it wasn't deep enough to be a mature faith. Assyrians 00:09:50.220 --> 00:09:53.820 come in and they just completely take over. Evil 00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:57.620 had become institutionalized. And yet, remarkably, 00:09:58.039 --> 00:10:02.759 God has shown mercy to them once before. This 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:05.779 was a part of their heritage. You know, decades 00:10:05.779 --> 00:10:09.460 earlier, they were shown grace. Yet they have 00:10:09.460 --> 00:10:14.120 wandered. About 100 years earlier. They repented 00:10:14.120 --> 00:10:16.960 briefly. They were spared. They returned to their 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:20.080 cruel ways. And now Nahum comes with a message. 00:10:20.139 --> 00:10:25.620 His message is this. Nineveh. Munster Church. 00:10:25.879 --> 00:10:28.840 Friends of Munster Church. Church virtual, the 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:31.840 same holds true for us. God's patience has limits. 00:10:32.100 --> 00:10:34.980 God's mercy does not excuse perpetual violence. 00:10:35.340 --> 00:10:42.240 God will act. God will act. That is a slide. 00:10:42.340 --> 00:10:44.940 So let's get that slide up there. God's patience 00:10:44.940 --> 00:10:55.159 has limits. I think it's the next one. Keep going. 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:59.500 Okay, so this is Nahum 1 .1, right? This is just 00:10:59.500 --> 00:11:03.700 the history of that, his word comfort. There 00:11:03.700 --> 00:11:06.779 we go. God's patience has limits. God's mercy 00:11:06.779 --> 00:11:10.519 does not excuse perpetual violence. God will 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:16.179 act. So, not only does Jonah, right, in his way 00:11:16.179 --> 00:11:20.759 100 years earlier, in a pocket, now Nahum has 00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:24.620 a message. But here we're going to see the character 00:11:24.620 --> 00:11:29.100 of God. Come to life. Slow to anger. Great in 00:11:29.100 --> 00:11:32.279 power. And we're going to read Nahum 1, 2, and 00:11:32.279 --> 00:11:36.980 3. The Lord is a jealous and avenging God. The 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:39.500 Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes 00:11:39.500 --> 00:11:42.899 vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath 00:11:42.899 --> 00:11:46.879 for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:49.659 great in power. And the Lord will by no means 00:11:49.659 --> 00:11:52.789 clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and 00:11:52.789 --> 00:11:56.970 storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 00:11:57.590 --> 00:12:01.009 Nahum begins not with Nineveh, but with God himself. 00:12:01.730 --> 00:12:04.570 The Lord is a jealous and avenging God, slow 00:12:04.570 --> 00:12:08.759 to anger and great in power. We may look at this 00:12:08.759 --> 00:12:11.179 as a contradiction in the way our minds might 00:12:11.179 --> 00:12:13.740 work, but it's not. It's actually covenant theology. 00:12:14.299 --> 00:12:17.039 We see this throughout the Old Testament. We 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:20.679 see this come and kind of was brought to perfection 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:24.500 in Jesus. What does this mean? God is slow to 00:12:24.500 --> 00:12:28.639 anger. God is patient with sinners. And God is 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:34.100 merciful to the repentant. But he also is just, 00:12:34.419 --> 00:12:40.039 holy. Opposed to evil and faithful to protect 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:44.860 his people. God's love is a fierce love. The 00:12:44.860 --> 00:12:47.659 same God who spared Nineveh in the time of Jonah 00:12:47.659 --> 00:12:50.720 now rises against Nineveh in the time of Nahum. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:55.500 Why? Because chesed, this everlasting love of 00:12:55.500 --> 00:12:58.639 God that we're talking about, includes moral 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:02.539 seriousness. God is serious about the way he 00:13:02.539 --> 00:13:06.700 loves. The people that we hold close to us, we 00:13:06.700 --> 00:13:10.039 are serious in the way that we love them. If 00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:12.840 we weren't, right, take your spouse or a really 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:15.620 good friend or maybe your adult children, right, 00:13:15.740 --> 00:13:17.080 because your relationship maybe with your little 00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:19.600 kids is not quite there yet. But when you have 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:21.940 someone close to you and they do something to 00:13:21.940 --> 00:13:27.250 harm you, you feel that. Normally. When people 00:13:27.250 --> 00:13:29.590 come into my office and want to talk about how 00:13:29.590 --> 00:13:32.070 they're mad at somebody or they're angry at somebody, 00:13:32.149 --> 00:13:34.870 it's not usually the stranger that cut them off 00:13:34.870 --> 00:13:38.549 on the highway. It's usually a spouse. It's usually 00:13:38.549 --> 00:13:41.629 a brother or a sister, a friend, an elder or 00:13:41.629 --> 00:13:43.429 a deacon that they've gotten to know. People 00:13:43.429 --> 00:13:46.909 that are close to you can cut the most deep in 00:13:46.909 --> 00:13:50.309 your life. Yeah, and that's part of that fierce 00:13:50.309 --> 00:13:52.529 love you have with them. If you were just indifferent, 00:13:52.950 --> 00:13:56.500 right? I see my friend Eli over there, a guy 00:13:56.500 --> 00:13:59.039 who the Lord has brought into my life seven years 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:01.539 ago, and there is a deep love one for another. 00:14:01.700 --> 00:14:04.639 I want to love him fiercely. Sometimes he runs 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:07.100 away, but when he receives it, he likes it. But 00:14:07.100 --> 00:14:11.179 if he were to do something to hurt me, and I 00:14:11.179 --> 00:14:13.860 was just kind of like, eh, whatever. If I was 00:14:13.860 --> 00:14:16.779 indifferent to that hurt, there wouldn't be a 00:14:16.779 --> 00:14:18.960 whole lot of love between us, would there? No, 00:14:18.980 --> 00:14:21.139 because you wouldn't really care. What we're 00:14:21.139 --> 00:14:23.460 talking about is love that we actually care about. 00:14:23.950 --> 00:14:29.509 Relationships that mean something to us. God's 00:14:29.509 --> 00:14:32.309 hesed includes moral seriousness. Love that can 00:14:32.309 --> 00:14:39.149 never confront evil is not love. Marriages that 00:14:39.149 --> 00:14:43.610 are built on passive -aggressive natures really 00:14:43.610 --> 00:14:48.250 isn't a marriage. Relationships that are built 00:14:48.250 --> 00:14:51.350 on never willing to sit down and have the tough 00:14:51.350 --> 00:14:54.460 conversations That connection isn't all that 00:14:54.460 --> 00:14:58.799 great. The young couple or the engaged couple 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:01.580 or whoever that come to me and say, and I ask 00:15:01.580 --> 00:15:02.779 them what it's like when they fight, and they 00:15:02.779 --> 00:15:06.440 go, we don't fight. I go, you don't have a relationship. 00:15:08.340 --> 00:15:10.879 Because there are times we're going to step in 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.679 it. We're going to hurt each other. And the love 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.220 is what boomerangs us back. That hesed boomerangs 00:15:16.220 --> 00:15:20.460 us back to have those conversations. A love that 00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:24.440 is tested and true. A weathered love or a weathered 00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:27.539 relationship knows this kind of love. And we 00:15:27.539 --> 00:15:30.159 can have that because of our next point that 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:34.539 God, the Lord is good and a stronghold. He's 00:15:34.539 --> 00:15:37.740 the one holding it all together. How many of 00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:40.799 you at the end or somewhere in your wedding ceremony 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:44.039 had the quarter three strands verse? That a cord 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:46.440 of three strands is not easily broken. How many 00:15:46.440 --> 00:15:48.100 of you had that in your, how many of you probably 00:15:48.100 --> 00:15:49.539 don't even remember what was said in your wedding? 00:15:49.700 --> 00:15:52.960 But understanding that is the Jesus strand holding 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:55.820 it all together. Nahum is going to say something 00:15:55.820 --> 00:16:00.019 astonishing now in verses 6 through 8. Who can 00:16:00.019 --> 00:16:02.799 stand before his indignation? Who can endure 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:05.580 the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out 00:16:05.580 --> 00:16:08.200 like a fire and the rocks are broken into pieces 00:16:08.200 --> 00:16:14.529 by him. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the 00:16:14.529 --> 00:16:17.289 day of trouble. He knows those who take refuge 00:16:17.289 --> 00:16:20.789 in him, but with an overflowing flood, he will 00:16:20.789 --> 00:16:23.509 make a complete end of his adversaries and will 00:16:23.509 --> 00:16:26.970 pursue his enemies into darkness. There's something 00:16:26.970 --> 00:16:29.490 astonishing here. Right in the middle of the 00:16:29.490 --> 00:16:32.889 judgment language, Nahum inserts a psalm of comfort. 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:37.059 Why? Because this book is not primarily about 00:16:37.059 --> 00:16:40.120 Nineveh. It is actually about Judah. It's about 00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:44.039 God's people. God's people are small, threatened, 00:16:44.379 --> 00:16:48.480 anxious, and oppressed. I don't know, maybe you're 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:50.259 finding yourself in those words this morning. 00:16:50.340 --> 00:16:52.639 Maybe this season of life, you feel small, you 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:55.340 feel threatened, you feel anxious or oppressed. 00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:58.259 And what is God saying through what he's saying 00:16:58.259 --> 00:17:01.480 to Nineveh? God says, I am not only your judge, 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:07.759 I am your refuge, I know you, I protect you. 00:17:08.940 --> 00:17:12.700 I don't know about you, but that's grace. Even 00:17:12.700 --> 00:17:14.440 though you may get in a fight with your spouse, 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:16.599 a loved one, a child, whatever. You're still 00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:19.079 going to protect them. You're still going to 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:21.819 be there for them. This is grace. Grace 101. 00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:25.900 A preserving grace. The canons of Dort insist 00:17:25.900 --> 00:17:30.539 that God preserves his people even amid persecution. 00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:34.519 And God assures believers of his protection and 00:17:34.519 --> 00:17:39.240 final victory. Nahum shows us judgment for the 00:17:39.240 --> 00:17:43.720 oppressor is protection. for the oppressed. Let 00:17:43.720 --> 00:17:46.579 me say that again. Judgment for the oppressor 00:17:46.579 --> 00:17:51.559 is protection for the oppressed. This is hesed 00:17:51.559 --> 00:17:55.420 in action. This is recognizing the oppression 00:17:55.420 --> 00:17:58.839 going on, taking action to stop it, and caring 00:17:58.839 --> 00:18:04.180 for the victims of it. This is God's love in 00:18:04.180 --> 00:18:07.019 action. And what does this bring? The ultimate 00:18:07.019 --> 00:18:11.519 fall of Nineveh. God ends oppression completely. 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:15.920 Chapters 2 and 3 describe Nineveh's fall in terrifying 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:20.000 detail. If you're like, hey, maybe tonight, right 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:22.460 before our kids go to bed, devotions, we're going 00:18:22.460 --> 00:18:24.440 to go into Nahum. We're going to read it. Steer 00:18:24.440 --> 00:18:29.339 clear of chapters 2 and 3. That won't go well. 00:18:29.660 --> 00:18:33.119 And what's remarkable is Nahum actually predicts 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:35.619 Nineveh's destruction decades before it happens. 00:18:36.490 --> 00:18:40.849 You see, in 612 B .C., Babylon invades, the Tigris 00:18:40.849 --> 00:18:44.289 floods Nineveh's giant walls, the city is burned, 00:18:44.450 --> 00:18:48.950 and Nineveh disappears from history. Bloop. Gone. 00:18:49.869 --> 00:18:55.509 For centuries, skeptics doubted Nahum, but the 00:18:55.509 --> 00:18:57.950 cool thing is, archaeologists uncovered parts 00:18:57.950 --> 00:19:00.869 of Nineveh in the 1800s. It's just another way 00:19:00.869 --> 00:19:03.269 the Bible brings things full circle, even in 00:19:03.269 --> 00:19:05.490 our history, and I love it. Another rhyme for 00:19:05.490 --> 00:19:09.099 another time. Nahum was right. But why does God 00:19:09.099 --> 00:19:11.279 destroy Nineveh? Well, let's list their sins 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:14.619 one more time so we can remember. Nahum lists 00:19:14.619 --> 00:19:18.240 their sins. Bloodshed, lies and plunder, sexual 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:22.420 exploitation, witchcraft and manipulation, cruelty 00:19:22.420 --> 00:19:29.069 without remorse. Okay? Worth this, right? Worth 00:19:29.069 --> 00:19:32.930 God's judgment? Absolutely. God says, behold, 00:19:33.369 --> 00:19:40.269 I am against you. Chapter 3, verse 5. Probably 00:19:40.269 --> 00:19:42.730 one of the most terrifying sentences in all of 00:19:42.730 --> 00:19:47.289 Scripture. Let me put that on us. All of a sudden, 00:19:47.289 --> 00:19:48.890 you get a message from the Lord. All of a sudden, 00:19:48.910 --> 00:19:50.910 the Lord sits and meets with you, looks you square 00:19:50.910 --> 00:19:53.390 in the eye, and says, insert your name here, 00:19:53.549 --> 00:19:58.819 I am against you. I don't know if there's anything 00:19:58.819 --> 00:20:03.579 more terrifying than that. I am against you. 00:20:03.740 --> 00:20:06.539 And yet, for God's people, it's the most comforting 00:20:06.539 --> 00:20:09.839 sentence in all of Scripture. Why? Because God 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:13.339 is against oppression. God is for the oppressed. 00:20:13.779 --> 00:20:16.519 Always has been, always will be. Jesus brings 00:20:16.519 --> 00:20:18.960 that to culmination in his Sermon on the Mount. 00:20:19.180 --> 00:20:25.559 In his teaching in Matthew 25. So this is Chesed 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:30.109 opposing evil. and preserving the saints. God's 00:20:30.109 --> 00:20:34.529 justice flows from his covenant love. God does 00:20:34.529 --> 00:20:37.470 not judge randomly. He doesn't just kind of close 00:20:37.470 --> 00:20:39.069 his eyes and say, and I'm going to judge you. 00:20:39.369 --> 00:20:42.269 He doesn't spin a wheel. This is specific. He 00:20:42.269 --> 00:20:46.130 judges because he loves righteousness, he loves 00:20:46.130 --> 00:20:49.609 his people, and he hates cruelty. You want to 00:20:49.609 --> 00:20:51.690 know the person that hates the sin in your life 00:20:51.690 --> 00:20:55.740 more than you do? God does. And he says, come 00:20:55.740 --> 00:20:59.460 with me, won't you, in hating your sin? Let's 00:20:59.460 --> 00:21:05.319 do this together. He loves righteousness. He 00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:08.579 loves his people. He hates cruelty. Grace 201, 00:21:08.900 --> 00:21:14.220 Canons 1, verse 7, or Head 1, 7. God's dealings 00:21:14.220 --> 00:21:17.319 flow from his sovereign will and gracious purpose. 00:21:18.859 --> 00:21:21.559 God's sovereign will and gracious purpose for 00:21:21.559 --> 00:21:24.559 your life is for you to love him uncontrollably 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:28.259 without any other things in the way and that 00:21:28.259 --> 00:21:31.519 you would receive his love in return. That's 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:35.220 part of the plan. God's justice is not the opposite 00:21:35.220 --> 00:21:38.319 of his grace. It is in defense of his grace. 00:21:39.299 --> 00:21:43.140 The things you hold most dear to your life, you're 00:21:43.140 --> 00:21:46.490 going to fight the fiercest to keep them. Hopefully, 00:21:46.609 --> 00:21:49.250 it's the people and the values in your life, 00:21:49.309 --> 00:21:53.410 not your stuff. But the things you hold most 00:21:53.410 --> 00:21:56.990 dear to you, you will fight the most fierce. 00:21:58.349 --> 00:22:01.390 Two, God preserves his people through oppression. 00:22:01.990 --> 00:22:05.170 God does not remove suffering immediately, though 00:22:05.170 --> 00:22:08.750 I know I wish he would too. He doesn't. He does 00:22:08.750 --> 00:22:11.509 it in his will and his ways. But what does he 00:22:11.509 --> 00:22:15.910 guarantee even in the midst of suffering? protection, 00:22:15.910 --> 00:22:21.210 preservation, final vindication. Isaiah 43, when 00:22:21.210 --> 00:22:24.789 you pass through the waters, I will be with you. 00:22:24.990 --> 00:22:27.849 That doesn't mean he takes you, bloop, over the 00:22:27.849 --> 00:22:31.130 waters and puts you on the other side. When you 00:22:31.130 --> 00:22:33.109 go through the waters, I will be with you. He 00:22:33.109 --> 00:22:36.190 doubles down, Isaiah. When you walk through the 00:22:36.190 --> 00:22:39.170 fires of life, I will be with you. It's not an 00:22:39.170 --> 00:22:43.349 if, it's a when. Welcome to faith. Welcome to 00:22:43.349 --> 00:22:46.089 being a life of a believer. Not everything is 00:22:46.089 --> 00:22:48.769 going to be unicorns and rainbows, right? It 00:22:48.769 --> 00:22:52.089 sounds super boring anyway. But it's the understanding 00:22:52.089 --> 00:22:55.410 when the hard things come, God is preserving 00:22:55.410 --> 00:22:58.890 your life. Nahum says, Behold the feet of him 00:22:58.890 --> 00:23:01.829 who bring good news, for never again shall the 00:23:01.829 --> 00:23:05.420 worthless pass through you. This is deliverance 00:23:05.420 --> 00:23:09.319 language. This is gospel language. This is victory 00:23:09.319 --> 00:23:13.440 language that Paul then later brings into Romans 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:18.099 chapter 10 when he promises that God will be 00:23:18.099 --> 00:23:22.559 with you. But you're going to suffer at times. 00:23:23.180 --> 00:23:27.559 Life's not going to seem fair at times. But you 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:30.920 have to understand your perspective to God's 00:23:30.920 --> 00:23:35.130 persevering perspective. God's reminding you 00:23:35.130 --> 00:23:37.849 this morning, church, he's playing the long game 00:23:37.849 --> 00:23:41.549 in your life. And he's asking, are you? Are you 00:23:41.549 --> 00:23:45.809 just wanting the wins and the successes and the 00:23:45.809 --> 00:23:50.049 comforts every second? Because when you want 00:23:50.049 --> 00:23:53.670 that life, you're not trusting in God. Or you're 00:23:53.670 --> 00:23:55.849 believing in some gospel that if you believe, 00:23:55.910 --> 00:23:58.450 the money in your bank account will come. I'm 00:23:58.450 --> 00:24:00.890 sorry, there's nothing in here that says that. 00:24:02.150 --> 00:24:04.579 There's not. There never has been, there never 00:24:04.579 --> 00:24:08.279 will be. But what does the canons help remind 00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:12.440 us in Grace 301? That God will ultimately end 00:24:12.440 --> 00:24:16.960 all oppression. Long game, long game. The canons 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:20.380 end with this hope. Christ will complete the 00:24:20.380 --> 00:24:23.640 work, evil will ultimately be defeated, and the 00:24:23.640 --> 00:24:26.759 church will be preserved. And it's kind of cool, 00:24:26.859 --> 00:24:29.380 preaching that in a church that has been around 00:24:29.380 --> 00:24:32.440 156 years. I don't know about you, that's kind 00:24:32.440 --> 00:24:35.539 of cool. There's some beauty to that. Nahum is 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:38.200 getting eschological. He's pointing forward, 00:24:38.359 --> 00:24:42.400 church triumphant, revelation. He's pointing 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:44.920 toward the final judgment, the fall of Babylon 00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:48.940 and revelation, the triumph of Christ. Christ 00:24:48.940 --> 00:24:51.460 isn't even a thought yet, and he's pointing towards 00:24:51.460 --> 00:24:55.279 that. Chesed does not tolerate evil forever. 00:24:55.700 --> 00:24:59.579 God's chesed promises a future without oppression. 00:25:01.069 --> 00:25:03.470 So what can we take for the rest of our day and 00:25:03.470 --> 00:25:05.730 our week today? What can we take with us? What 00:25:05.730 --> 00:25:09.549 is Nahum trying to get us to understand about 00:25:09.549 --> 00:25:13.970 living that hesed out? First, take God's oppression 00:25:13.970 --> 00:25:18.690 seriously. Right? Or that God, sorry, God takes 00:25:18.690 --> 00:25:23.299 oppression seriously. He does. If he takes it 00:25:23.299 --> 00:25:26.259 seriously, we need to take it seriously. This 00:25:26.259 --> 00:25:29.400 is a matter of victims of abuse, persecuted Christian, 00:25:29.819 --> 00:25:33.640 marginalized communities, wounded families. God 00:25:33.640 --> 00:25:36.799 takes that oppression seriously. We need to as 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:39.140 well. What does that look like in your life? 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:43.740 Nahum says God is not indifferent. He's not passive. 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:49.259 He's not confused. God sees. God remembers. God 00:25:49.259 --> 00:25:53.019 will act. And maybe, just maybe, he's going to 00:25:53.019 --> 00:25:56.180 act through you. Maybe, just maybe, he's going 00:25:56.180 --> 00:25:58.880 to act through our church. Or I look around and 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:00.579 see other churches represented this morning. 00:26:00.700 --> 00:26:02.779 Maybe he's going to do that. Maybe he's going 00:26:02.779 --> 00:26:05.079 to use the cadet ministry, the GEMS ministry 00:26:05.079 --> 00:26:08.900 to help and see the victims of oppressed. However 00:26:08.900 --> 00:26:12.339 that works in a kid's life for that ministry. 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:14.960 Who knows? But God's going to do it. Second, 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:19.440 God is a refuge before he's a judge. Before God 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:22.490 destroys Nineveh. He offers Judah this promise. 00:26:22.869 --> 00:26:26.589 The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of 00:26:26.589 --> 00:26:32.670 trouble. Grace comes before wrath. Refuge before 00:26:32.670 --> 00:26:37.829 reckoning. Third, the church must reflect God's 00:26:37.829 --> 00:26:43.910 protective chesed. If we are the church, we must 00:26:43.910 --> 00:26:49.640 reflect. We must reflect this love. If God confronts 00:26:49.640 --> 00:26:53.259 oppression, then his church must protect the 00:26:53.259 --> 00:26:57.359 vulnerable, listen to the wounded, resist cruelty, 00:26:57.799 --> 00:27:02.440 speak against abuse, and create safe spaces. 00:27:03.619 --> 00:27:06.240 If the church isn't doing that, what is the church 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:10.359 doing? And pause. I've had to say this now because 00:27:10.359 --> 00:27:12.539 inevitably I'll get an email or a text message. 00:27:13.660 --> 00:27:17.339 It is not a political sermon. Don't make this 00:27:17.339 --> 00:27:20.160 a political sermon. If you're receiving my words 00:27:20.160 --> 00:27:22.240 and you're making it political, you're doing 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:25.839 it. I'm not. So that's on you. It's not on me. 00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:32.160 This is not political. This is God -itical. Sorry, 00:27:32.279 --> 00:27:34.920 that doesn't make any sense. This is God's hesed 00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:37.539 at work. It's not with anger, but with courage 00:27:37.539 --> 00:27:41.029 and compassion. Four, Jesus is the fulfillment 00:27:41.029 --> 00:27:44.930 of Nahum. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord he's 00:27:44.930 --> 00:27:47.329 the fulfillment. Because if he wasn't, that means 00:27:47.329 --> 00:27:49.769 it's still going to happen this way. But Jesus 00:27:49.769 --> 00:27:52.630 is the fulfillment. Where Nineveh fell under 00:27:52.630 --> 00:27:56.279 judgment, Jesus fell under judgment for us. Where 00:27:56.279 --> 00:27:59.579 Nineveh faced God's wrath, Jesus absorbed God's 00:27:59.579 --> 00:28:02.519 wrath on the cross. Where oppression ended by 00:28:02.519 --> 00:28:06.480 destruction, salvation comes to us via sacrifice. 00:28:08.920 --> 00:28:12.420 Where oppression ended by destruction, salvation 00:28:12.420 --> 00:28:16.059 comes to us by sacrifice. And because of Jesus, 00:28:16.380 --> 00:28:20.799 these three things will always be true. Evil 00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:25.420 will not win. Oppression will not last. And the 00:28:25.420 --> 00:28:30.660 kingdom ultimately belongs to the Lord. The good 00:28:30.660 --> 00:28:33.720 news of a just God is this. And I land the plane. 00:28:34.779 --> 00:28:38.299 Nahum's final words are this. Behold, on the 00:28:38.299 --> 00:28:41.220 mountains, the feet of him who brings good news. 00:28:43.079 --> 00:28:47.319 You could read this book and go, good news. This 00:28:47.319 --> 00:28:50.359 is not good news. I don't receive this as good 00:28:50.359 --> 00:28:54.059 news. But friend, it is. It's good news because? 00:28:54.990 --> 00:29:02.529 The tyrants fall. Cruelty ends. Victims are vindicated. 00:29:02.829 --> 00:29:10.309 And God ultimately reigns. Remember, Hosea showed 00:29:10.309 --> 00:29:14.029 us a God that pursues. Joel, a God who restores. 00:29:14.490 --> 00:29:19.210 Amos, a God who reshapes. Obadiah, a God who 00:29:19.210 --> 00:29:23.210 defends. Micah, a God who humbles. And today 00:29:23.210 --> 00:29:28.099 Nahum. shows us a God who fights evil itself. 00:29:28.859 --> 00:29:33.859 And that, above all else, is always good news. 00:29:34.059 --> 00:29:34.839 Let's pray.