Read the Bible in a Year (26SEP19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, September 26’s Bible reading is Nahum 1-3.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, September 27’s Bible reading is Habakkuk - Zephaniah. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD. 

Nahum’s Introduction

There is little known about the Prophet Nahum other than he was an Elkoshite from the village of Elkosh in Galilee or east of the Jordan of which this book is so named. Nahum which means comfort or comforter was indeed such to the Jewish exiles who had been taken by the Assyrians into captivity. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria whom God had previously sent Jonah to preach against. At that time, they repented and turned from their wicked ways, but later, Nineveh reverted back to its wickedness and Nahum was called to prophesy against their evil and to pronounce their downfall which took place in 612 B.C. at the hands of the Babylonians. Nahum’s entire book is focused on Nineveh’s judgment and God’s dislike of their idolatry, oppression of His people, their cruelty, and endless wickedness. Nahum’s message gave comfort to the exiles that their oppressors would be judged for their actions and that God was Sovereign.

NAHUM MOMENT – (26SEP19) “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” (Nahum 1:2). Jonah, known as the prophet to the Gentiles, was sent by the Lord to warn Nineveh of her wicked ways during the reign of Jeroboam. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria but at the time of Jonah’s message, they had not taken Israel captive. After Jonah’s message of destruction to them, they fell on their faces before God and repented of their sins from the king on down. The Lord heard from Heaven and relented on the judgment that had been pronounced over them. It was later that Nineveh invaded Israel, prior to the Babylonians’ own invasion of Israel, that they had completely turned back to their wicked ways. They had become ruthless in their oppression of Israel and the Lord gave Nahum a vision of their coming destruction. They had not humbled themselves before the Lord as they previously had done, and their pride and arrogance kept them from repenting. The Lord was going to avenge the plight of His people and they were going to see their oppressors fall by the sword at the hands of the Babylonians.

Many people believe in the ideology of being once saved always saved. If that were the case, Nineveh would have never been destroyed because they had at one point humbled themselves before the Lord. Unfortunately, they did not continue to live in repentance and reverted back to their wicked ways. The Bible says: "But if a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die” (Ezekiel 18:24). The Lord is all too willing to forgive us from our sins, but this does not mean that we can return to our wickedness and think that we are in good standing with God. He will see none of our former righteousness and judge us by what we presently do. Therefore, we should never take advantage of the grace of God but try to be imitators of Him. Something to ponder….

   

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (26SEP19) “The Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and have ruined their vines” (Nahum 2:2). The Lord used the various nations to punish Israel because of their idolatry. This, however, did not mean that the Lord was pleased with the behavior of the nations that He used to judge Israel. Therefore, whenever He sent a word of judgment through His prophets, He also gave Israel the hope that one day, they would be delivered and freed from the hands of their oppressors. This was such the case with Nahum as he was sent to be a comforter, as the meaning of his name suggests, to Israel. The Lord wanted Israel to remember His promises and maintain the hope that they would not be captives forever. They would one day see their very captors bound in chains and slain as many of them had been. The Lord was going to restore them back to their land and they would once again have their own homes and vineyards.

The Lord wants to restore the lost to Himself. He came that we all may have eternal life. One day, we will see our oppressor, Satan, be bound and thrown into the Lake of Fire. He will be paid back for all the evil he has done throughout the centuries. The oppressor of our soul will not be able to oppress anyone on that glorious day. We too will be able to enjoy the bounty that the Lord has in store for us. Will you help others to come to the knowledge of Christ before it is too late? “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). Something to ponder….

NAHUM MOMENT – (26SEP19) “Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims!” (Nahum 3:1). Nineveh was considered a wicked city before the Lord. He had seen their ruthlessness and how oppressive they were to their exiles. They did not care for anyone but themselves and slaughtered anyone they chose. They were all to happy to plunder the wealth of others for their own gain without giving God any glory for the things that they had received. Therefore, Nahum’s message of destruction was the Lord’s warning to them that life as they knew it was about to change. All that they had taken great joy in was soon to be a thing of the past. The enemy that they feared the most was the one who would be coming within their gates. The Lord warned them to prepare because there was going to be a lot of bloodshed and as they had done to others, the same thing was going to be done to them. No one would be able to come to their rescue and their cruelty would be repaid upon their own heads. This message of destruction to a foreign nation was a difficult one, but Nahum had to prophesy to the Gentiles just as Jonah had, so they would be aware of what was coming.

The Lord has some Nahums prophesying in this late hour. They are crying out for the nations to repent and turn from their wicked ways. Destruction is coming upon the world and all who are not on the Lord’s side will find themselves on the losing end. The devil has pumped the nations up to believe in their own might and military strength, but without the Lord, the nations of the earth are doomed. The Bible says: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). We as Christians know what is coming to the world, so let’s continue to pray for the lost and ask the Lord to help them turn their hearts over to Him before it’s too late. Something to ponder….