Day 35 - 40 Days in the Old Testament

Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days in the Old Testament
Day  35 | THE DESTRUCTION OF NINEVEH
THE DESTRUCTION OF NINEVEH

Nahum 1:3, 7
“The Lord is slow to get angry, but his power is great, and he never lets the guilty go unpunished. He displays his power in the whirlwind and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust beneath his feet.”
“The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.”
(NLT)

Nahum, like Jonah, focuses on the Assyrian city of Nineveh. Jonah concentrates on God’s undeserved mercy and compassion to those who repent. Nahum was prophesying the wrath, fall, and destruction of Nineveh (the capital of Assyria and conquerors of the kingdom of Israel). Nahum, whose name means “comfort,” spoke  prophecies directed at God’s people in the southern kingdom of Judah. He wanted them to take comfort in the knowledge of God keeping his promises to judge rightly, but also warning that they too must walk rightly before their LORD God.

Nineveh was a totalitarian godless empire led by self-serving leaders who exploited others for personal gain. (Does this sound anything like the world today?)

Today, we should take hope – as did God’s people in Judah – that “The  Lord is slow to get angry, but his power is great, and he never lets the guilty go unpunished.”

Ponder that.

I wonder… have you heard anything in the news lately that makes you upset? Consider the actions of some people in our country and other countries. Then, reread that verse.

Nahum initially spoke these words to God’s people in Judah. And, subsequently, Nineveh fell in 612 BC. But it’s important to remember that these principles are still in effect today. We in this country, must NOT continue as a nation in sin against God and His Word or risk punishment like that which God allowed on His people in both Israel and Judah.
 
And for those of us trying to live a Spirit-filled, God-pleasing life, we can take comfort in verse 7… “The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.”

Prayer: LORD, I do trust You.  Lead me, guide me, and teach me, as You know best. Amen.