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ah

book by book i'm richard buse inviting

you to join with us in the study

of the old testament book of nahum

that's where we are

and i'm joined here on the banks of the

river thames you can see the thames

outside here

and here is paul blackham my colleague

and we also have our special guest

gordon bridger and gordon you've served

god in all sorts of

times in cities in england in cambridge

and in

norwich and in edinburgh and here we are

in london

thank you very much indeed for coming to

join us the delight to be here richard

it's wonderful let's have a look then at

book of nahum

and we'd study number two i'm going to

still read in the first chapter

verses two and three here we are 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 maintains his wrath against his

enemies the lord

is slow to anger and great in power

the lord will not leave the guilty

unpunished his way

is in the whirlwind and the storm and

clouds

are the dust of his feet and he we'll

leave the reading there

as we look on now in our second study

and first of all this idea about god as

a jealous and

avenging god jealousy paul why don't we

think about

the fact that he's jealous that comes

hard on the modern ear

a jealous god it does and critics of the

bible go

look at this this god of the old

testament with all this jealousy and

anger and all this jealousy is a

terrible thing

well no it depends really because

jealous there is a sinful jealousy and

we fall into that

where we want what doesn't belong to us

and we're jealous for it in that way

like an envy really

and that is a sinful and wrong thing but

there is a kind of

righteous jealousy where you you um

mourn for what does belong to you but

has been wrongfully taken away

and there we have the lord god who is

the

really the husband of his wife his wife

the church

that's so important and his and i mean

gordon

it doesn't it has this brilliant bit in

the commentary it's on

is it on page 101 richard i i forget the

page numbers it's on

i think it's on page 101 yeah the lord

is so committed to us

that he is jealous for our complete love

and loyalty to himself see isn't that

helpful thank you for that gordon

because that's brilliant that point

that he our affections are loved

belong to him he's the husband the

church is his wife

and when that the affections of the

church in any age

are taken away by false gods and false

objects

it's terrible and the thing of nineveh

and he's jealous for that because he

rightly expects the church to love him

properly he's

laid down everything for the church so

that

we give him his love asabanipal had

brought

the the ruler of the assyrians i into

kings 17

to king 17 we hear how when he conquered

israel

and he took the people of israel away

into exile he brought into israel

people from all sorts of different

nations with all the false religions and

false

gods which had a terrible effect

bringing about objects of false worship

so for all these reasons this lord god

who loves with great passion

is jealous for his people

and that that makes a lot of sense to us

once we think that

god is in love with his people his bride

the church and of course he's jealous

so there is jealousy but then gordon

look at this there's also vengeance

verse two

lord god it's an avenger god that is

actually said three times

that again does that sound a little bit

wrong to modern ears

well it sounds wrong if we if we are the

ones to take vengeance because we will

have all the wrong motives we won't know

all the facts

and we're likely to be very capricious

and hostile and vindictive so

it is quite right that the scripture

says in many places that

we shouldn't take vengeance because

vengeance belongs

to the lord so that the mark of a

christian i mean at his or her best is

that we don't take vengeance yes it's

interesting isn't it that's one

one of the great characteristics of

christians they don't take vengeance

because it's so clear in scripture that

vengeance belongs to the lord

and his vengeance is pure it's his

uh the reaction of his holiness to sin

he's intolerant of sin

he won't sweep it under the carpet um he

judges

sin i think the prophet habakkuk said

he's a fairer eyes than to behold evil

cannot look on iniquity so

we know that he knows the whole

situation that he knows it's serious

and has to be dealt with and that he's

determined that justice will be done

and be seen to be done in this world

which is a great encouragement that

there is a

standard there which we have to take

note of

actually look on the verse 3 you see i'd

like to think about

you know let's think about this why is

it such good news

to hear that the lord is slow to anger

and great in power

let's think about that i love that

richard slow to anger

great in power we're used to different

sorts of com

combinations we will have people who are

quick to anger

and great in strength so we might think

about

um you know a husband or father who

loses temper and commits domestic

violence and everyone lives in the

family

in fear of them because it has a quick

temper and he'll use his fists and

things like that so we know that sort of

thing and that's a horrible thing

but we also maybe know people who are

slow to anger and

weak in power and so they are always

compromising always looking for

easy solutions placating the evil people

and then they betray the trust of the

widow and the orphan and the needy and

they press and they never help them

that's a horrible thing as well and in

some ways even more destructive on a

global scale

but the lord he's slow to anger

he's um he's he's like in control do you

say he's like a um

i remember he's in your commentary where

he's it's like a master of anger like he

knows how to deal with it sort of thing

he's he he's in charge of the anger he

doesn't get overwhelmed with his

emotions and fly into a fit of rage

no he he's in control of it uh he's slow

to anger he does it properly but he's

got the power

so that when it comes to showing his

anger and and bringing vengeance and all

that

he's able to do it and no matter how big

the bully

the lord can bring them down to size

absolutely

which is encouragement then when i mean

when we think about the

the the nature of the lord god himself

the name of the lord the covenant god

maybe even the name do you think reveals

something of his

character faithfulness yes i think it's

wonderful that in that first chapter he

mentions nineveh once

but he mentions the lord ten times this

particular title of the night yes i

hadn't tweaked that

uh which we we read about in in exodus

for example when

moses is not sure what to tell the

pharaoh in egypt

about god and doesn't feel he's a

theologian and understands these things

and god says well tell them what you

know and he reveals himself

as i am that i am it's a title that

relates to the verb to be

or it could be translated i will be what

i will be

and it seems to mean that the lord is

immediate

present uh with us in every situation

there available for us it's great

sufficient for us

now and always the same yesterday today

and forever wonderful and it's it's a

bit like

the word jesus for the christian the

lord is jesus

and uh as a christian we gain tremendous

encouragement tonight he is always

immediate with us present i

heard a story that moved me a lot a few

years ago about

uh preparatory webb peplo a clergyman

quite well known i knew his son

did you uh and he had a terrible

accident with the family one of his

children was killed

he went back to his study where in his

parish church

and he knelt in the study tears down his

face

desperate to get the grace and strength

that he felt god could give him

the pleading that he might give it and

then his eye caught

a motto on the mantle shelf

and it was simply the words my grace is

and the word

is was in bold capitals

and a different color stood out my grace

is

sufficient for you and he found his

prayer was changing from

pleading that he might be given grace to

saying

you promised now immediately that there

is grace

sufficient for me he claimed that and it

was a great help to him

wow in fact i've read that story in

your commentary yes and haven't you

bought it

i like your commentary because well you

can read this commentary because it's

got stories

it's got as well as the explanation of

everything it's of course from

intervarsity fellowship into varsity

press i should say

and they they like to preach to bring

out commentaries that

help the preachers help the speakers

people are coffee mornings or bible

studies

think okay this is readable so we're

very grateful for this

hey look on the verses 46 thinking of

the salvation

and the judgment of the lord through

scripture look at the

second part of verse five and into six

how does

nahum prove that the lord has the power

and authority

to deliver his judgments what do you

think about that framework oh

yeah this is a great bit because his

ways in the whirlwind and the storm

clouds of his feet

rebukes the sea drives it up rivers run

dry all of those things

which in themselves i mean we could look

at nature and think when you're in a

storm it's

unbelievable the power of the lord god

and he's showing that

or in a flood or anything like that but

i think there is

probably reference here to great acts of

judgment in the past

so of course the people of nineveh the

assyrians might be thinking

ah it's just words there won't be any

judgment these prophets are always going

on like that

and jonah of course did say they'll be

judgment and that time it didn't come

but nahum is saying right from the word

go listen

what about noah and the storms and rain

that came then

and flooded the whole world the lord was

able to do that

or what about um the crossing of the red

sea maybe here he

rebukes the seed rise it up the

egyptians

they thought he couldn't judge them the

lord judged them or even the crossing of

joshua

across the jordan when again the river

and that enabled them to go across off

the river jordan

and all those people in the land of

canaan they probably thought we're too

strong to be

judged we're well the lord judged them

too

all of these previous tyrannical abusive

empires and kingdoms that had killed

people and cruelty

thought they were safe and then right

from the

saying really this lord god is slow to

anger

great in power and he can judge you and

he will

i remember a man who is a pastor in

uganda

on easter day when uh some of edr armen

the great dictator

some of his assassins came in to kill

him and uh he said to them

you are in far greater danger than i am

and ended up with them each of them

joining his church

wow but that was his conviction you're

you're the weak ones

i yeah i'm all right i'm secure in god

that sounds like was it polycarp who

said something like that didn't he where

he sort of said to the emperor

you can burn me now with this fire

you're urine danger of

a greater fire to come that way in which

that sense of the lord god isn't it

absolutely it just it says so actually

gordon how far

you know how fair is it do you think to

say that

neymar is looking forward beyond the

destruction of assyria because

all this is a prophecy yes beyond the

destruction of assyria to the final day

of judgment

is that a feasible way of looking at it

i think so because the language of

for instance malachi 3 2 and revelation

6 16 to 17

is very much the language of nahum they

call to the mountains and rocks fall on

us

hide us from the face of him who sits on

the throne

and from the wrath of the lamb and then

for the great day of their wrath has

come and who can stand

that very much echoes what liam is

saying and i think that's true right

through the bible that the judgments

that come upon these nations

are kind of warnings to the rest of us

that one day there'll be a final

judgment it's particularly clear

in jesus teaching in matthew 24

and in mark 13 luke 21 about

the fall of jerusalem in 1870 which took

place in 1870

but he mixes up teaching about that

we're teaching about the end of the

world because the one judgment

prefigures the final judgment that's

such a helpful way of putting

anything to add to that paul well it's

just that verse isn't it nahum one verse

six

who can withstand his indignation who

can endure his fierce anger

i mean that is that sense isn't it that

however big we think we are

he is coming the lord jesus is coming

to judge the world and on that day no

one can stand in themselves

the only place of safety is him and if

we try to stand in our own strength when

that day comes

we've had it absolutely this has been a

useful study

as we close off i mean let me ask you

whoever you may be from different part

of the world may be

are you under pressure from somebody

maybe from your government

maybe from your president maybe from

your boss at work

try and see that oppressor in his or her

underclothes in the long pants you know

under

or with his duodenal ulcer or with his

ingrowing toenails

see him with his you know the problems

he got with his

mother-in-law or with his little love

affair that have all gone wrong

i remember a great evangelist uh

from argentina luis palau once telling

me of a particular

breakfast he had to go to speak at and

the president of that particular country

was there and said to him beforehand

palau

what's your subject and palau said

the crisis of the spirit the president

said to him

crisis let me tell you about my crisis

it is right there in his own family it

just helps us to understand

that there is more in us than there is

in them greater is are those who are

with us

said elijah than those who are with them

and you are speaking of the oppressors

hold on to that

let's be encouraged together more next

time god bless you

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