The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Nahum 1:2-3,
"The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished."
The Lord vents his wrath against his enemies. To be one of God's enemies is a frightful place to be. We are told, "The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it. Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him." Nahum 1:5b-6. Or, as the writer of Hebrews simply puts it, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:31.
I suspect most all of us prefer to think on the loving kindness of the Lord, his mercy, his compassion for mankind. It certainly is not unwarranted, "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared..." Titus 3:4, and "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son..." John 3:16, etc. However, the Lord is not of a single dimension. He is also, as Nahum reminds everyone, jealous, avenging, and wrathful.
The Lord is both loving and kind, as well as wrathful. On judgment day, a day when we all will give an account of ourselves to God, every person will be the recipient of the expression of one or the other of these two aspects of God. No one will experience both and no one will experience neither. It is one or the other.
Nahum identifies two types of people as he reveals his vision of God's judgment of Nineveh. One type he calls "his [the Lord's] enemies", verse 2. The other is identified as "those who trust in him", verse 7. Just exactly who are the enemies of God? As it turns out, everyone! Everyone and everybody, male and female of every demographic. In Romans 5:1-11 Paul points out that as all are sinners, all are God's enemies, verse 10. As such we find ourselves in the horrific position of facing God's wrath on judgment day. However, also in Romans 5, we read that of those who were formally God's enemies, some have "now received reconciliation", verse 11. There Paul tells us that it is through faith, verse 1, in the death of Christ to pay for our sins, that we become no longer his enemies but those who receive his loving care.
Nahum tells us it is the same expression of faith on our part that brings his care for us, "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him..." Nahum 1:7. It is the same thing we read of in Genesis 15:6 in regard to Abraham, "Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:6. When we embrace the Lord in faith a transaction takes place. We are removed from those who are God's enemies to those who receive his love, kindness, compassion and mercy.
Mankind has invented all kinds of notions about something or some place in between. All these are counter to what we are taught throughout the Scriptures. The concept of reincarnation, where we "work through" our deficiencies, or a place called "Purgatory" where we can earn our way to God's love and acceptance, all these kinds of things are both fanciful and false as well as foreign to the Scriptures. As the writer of Hebrews reminds us, "Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..." Hebrews 9:27.
What is the outlook for you on judgment day?
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
"The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished."
The Lord vents his wrath against his enemies. To be one of God's enemies is a frightful place to be. We are told, "The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it. Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him." Nahum 1:5b-6. Or, as the writer of Hebrews simply puts it, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:31.
I suspect most all of us prefer to think on the loving kindness of the Lord, his mercy, his compassion for mankind. It certainly is not unwarranted, "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared..." Titus 3:4, and "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son..." John 3:16, etc. However, the Lord is not of a single dimension. He is also, as Nahum reminds everyone, jealous, avenging, and wrathful.
The Lord is both loving and kind, as well as wrathful. On judgment day, a day when we all will give an account of ourselves to God, every person will be the recipient of the expression of one or the other of these two aspects of God. No one will experience both and no one will experience neither. It is one or the other.
Nahum identifies two types of people as he reveals his vision of God's judgment of Nineveh. One type he calls "his [the Lord's] enemies", verse 2. The other is identified as "those who trust in him", verse 7. Just exactly who are the enemies of God? As it turns out, everyone! Everyone and everybody, male and female of every demographic. In Romans 5:1-11 Paul points out that as all are sinners, all are God's enemies, verse 10. As such we find ourselves in the horrific position of facing God's wrath on judgment day. However, also in Romans 5, we read that of those who were formally God's enemies, some have "now received reconciliation", verse 11. There Paul tells us that it is through faith, verse 1, in the death of Christ to pay for our sins, that we become no longer his enemies but those who receive his loving care.
Nahum tells us it is the same expression of faith on our part that brings his care for us, "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him..." Nahum 1:7. It is the same thing we read of in Genesis 15:6 in regard to Abraham, "Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:6. When we embrace the Lord in faith a transaction takes place. We are removed from those who are God's enemies to those who receive his love, kindness, compassion and mercy.
Mankind has invented all kinds of notions about something or some place in between. All these are counter to what we are taught throughout the Scriptures. The concept of reincarnation, where we "work through" our deficiencies, or a place called "Purgatory" where we can earn our way to God's love and acceptance, all these kinds of things are both fanciful and false as well as foreign to the Scriptures. As the writer of Hebrews reminds us, "Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..." Hebrews 9:27.
What is the outlook for you on judgment day?
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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