If you will turn with me and
your Bibles back to Nahum chapter one. Nahum chapter one. Look with me at verse one. The Burden of Nineveh, the book
of the vision of Nahum the Elkishite. Nahum was a prophet of God and
God sent this man a vision. And the vision God sent him was
concerning the burden of Nineveh, more specifically God's judgment
against Nineveh, against that great city, the eternal damnation
and condemnation that was soon to come to that wicked, vile
city. Now, we're not told a whole lot
about this man, Nahum. The only thing I know about him
is the few brief things we read in these three short chapters.
But this man, Nahum, sure knew a lot about the Lord God. God
had obviously revealed himself to him and taught him much about
who he was. And here, we're going to look
at the first seven verses, and in these verses, Nahum gave us
a marvelous description of what God is like. The title of my
message is a question. What is God like? I want to show
you six things that Nahum clearly declares God to be. And I don't
want these to just be heard as facts. I pray that we can acknowledge
these six things, that we can see God's greatness and God's
glory in these things, and that these might actually give us
some comfort, all right? I just said that Nahum's message
was, it was a pretty harsh message, all right? But even in the, Even
in the hard parts of the scripture, I pray God will always let us
see the comfort, all right? Now, the first thing we're told
here about God, we see in verse two. He said, God is jealous. Now, thinking about that, I wasn't
sure what quite to say about that. You know, we get jealous,
right? And our jealousy is never a good
thing. Our jealousy is out of envy. I'll give you an example. Say
I know you get a job and you're making a lot more money than
I'm making. Or say I see a car that you come home with and I
think, oh man, I'd love to have that car. Oh, I just wish I had
these things that those people have. That's the kind of jealousy
we have, right? Well, that's not anything like
God's jealousy. Our jealousy is sinful, it's
sin. God's jealousy is holy. God is
a jealous God and his jealousy is a holy jealousy. His jealousy
is a result of his character. What is God's character? He's
holy. He's holy. What that means is God is to
be reverence. He's not on his throne hoping
and begging that people will give him honor and glory. No,
His holiness demands all honor and glory. That's the kind of
jealousy I'm talking about here. God, and when people do not honor
Him, when we don't reverence Him, here's what happens. God
is jealous with an angry jealousy. Let me read a couple verses to
you. Deuteronomy 32, 16 says, When people worship a false god, a god of their imagination that
provokes God to jealousy and anger. Another verse, the Lord
told Moses, He said, Thou shalt worship no other god, for the
Lord whose name is Jealous is a jealous God. God is jealous
for His honor and for His glory. His character, His holiness demands
it. All glory belongs to Him. And he hates that which dishonors
him. He hates that which doesn't believe
on him. He hates that which tries to
steal his glory. He said, my glory will I not
give to another. God must get all the glory. Look at verse two again. It says,
God is jealous and the Lord revengeth. The Lord revengeth and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance
on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath. for his enemies. That's
who God is. God is a jealous God. God is
an angry God. We had to read a brief book.
It was a sermon in high school. Looking back, I'm shocked that
we actually read this in school, but it was called Sinners in
the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards, faithful preacher
of the gospel. And I thought about that when
studying for this, and I thought, isn't that amazing? Even when
I was in school with people who perhaps do not know God, I got
to read some truth of God. And what that tells us is God's Word will be heard. Whether
we mean it for good or not, God's Word will be heard. God is a
jealous, angry God. Deuteronomy 4.24 says, The Lord
thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. Well, I thought
God was love. That doesn't sound like God to
me. God is love. Love is of God. God is love. Love comes from
God. But let me tell you what God loves. God loves holiness. It's very simple. God loves that
which is right. God loves that which is pure.
God loves that which is good. And He hates that which is bad. He hates that which is evil.
He hates that which opposes Him. God hates wickedness. Psalm 711
says, God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked
every day. Every single day. Habakkuk 113
says, Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst
not look on iniquity. God is so holy, he cannot so
much as look on iniquity. All right, that's who God is.
And the result of God's jealous anger is vengeance. He said,
vengeance is mine, I will repay. And our text here says that God
will take vengeance on his adversaries. What that means is we who've
sinned against holy God, God will give us what we deserve. He will give us what we deserve.
The end of verse two says, he reserveth wrath for his enemies. That word wrath, it was left
out of the original text, and from what I've read, it would
appear that we're to read that and think, we can't imagine just
the extent of God's wrath that He has prepared for His enemies. Well, I sure wanna be found to
be His friend, not His enemy, don't you? I don't wanna be His
enemy. God is jealous. God will revenge. God is an angry God. Is that
who you thought Him to be? That's certainly not who this
world declares Him to be, but that's who God said He is. He's
holy, and He's to be reverenced. God is to be worshiped, all right? Now look in our text at verse
three. The Lord is slow to anger. Well, that almost sounds like
a contradiction, doesn't it? God is angry, but He's slow to
anger. It's not a contradiction at all. Not at all. You see,
God's anger is not like ours. Just as our jealousy is a sinful
jealousy, our anger is a sinful anger. You see, God doesn't react
to things. Things happen that anger us.
You might say something to me that makes me angry. That's not
how God works. The Lord hath made all things
for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Nothing
catches God by surprise. When Adam and Eve, when they
sinned in the garden, that was according to God's purpose. didn't
catch God by surprise. God didn't react to that in anger. His purpose came to pass. Psalm
76 10 says, surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, the
remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. You see, our God is
not in a hurry to execute judgment. The Lord is slow to anger. How
many times do we read in the scriptures where it says the
Lord was gonna come and destroy a city. We read in Jonah, Lord
sent a message of judgment against these same people, this same
city, and Lord spared them for a time. I believe He saved some
of them, but then about 100 years went by and wickedness had resumed
its wickedness in the city, and God said, all right, it's time
to destroy it. You think of what happened in
Noah's day. God said, it's so evil, man, it's so evil. I'm
gonna have to destroy them from the face of the earth. Gonna
have to destroy them, and He did. God destroyed them. God, but how many times, though
He's angry, how many times did He wait? There's a verse that
said the Lord is waiting that He might be gracious. A verse
that mentions He stretched out His arms, but no man has regarded.
We heard it this morning, we won't come to Him. God's on His
throne, willing to be gracious, and we have no interest in it.
And I'm so thankful God is not hastily Casting judgment, eternal
judgment, because if he was, here's where I would be. I would
be in hell right now. Were God not slow to anger, that's
where we would all be. And upon that, I can't help but
think, I'm so glad God is not like me. Slow to anger. Can we
honestly say that about ourselves? I'm slow to anger. I like to
think I'm somewhat of a mild person, mild-mannered person.
And if I am, it's only by God's grace, but even then, we get
angry, we get offended so easily, don't we? It's embarrassing,
honestly. We're self-righteous, we hear
things, and we say, oh, no, no, no, no, no, I'm good. The truth
hurts, but God is not like us. He's slow to anger, and I'm so
thankful it's so. Let me show you a verse in Psalm
145, if you'll turn back there with me, Psalm 145. Verse eight. The Lord is gracious and full
of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy. God is angry,
but he is also patient. God is angry. God is a jealous
God, a holy and just God, but he is also gracious and merciful. He said, I will be gracious.
Isn't that the best thing you've ever heard? We just heard God
hates sin. God will punish sin. I will be gracious. I will have
mercy. Turn over with me to 2 Peter
3. 2 Peter 3 verse 9. The Lord is not slack concerning
His promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering
to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance." God made a promise. From before the foundation
of the world, God made a promise, and when God makes a promise,
He keeps it. Again, unlike us. What was this
promise God made? First, it's a promise He made
with Himself. The triune God made this promise
with Himself, and His promise was concerning us, and here's
what it was, that we should not perish. All whom God chose to
save, all whom Christ came to redeem, whom the Spirit will
call, God's promise was, they shall not perish. They shall
all be saved. Now here's where we're at. You
and I, from the day we were born to right now, here's what we've
done. We've provoked the Lord our God to anger. We've provoked
Him to jealousy. But that cannot stop His promise
towards us. We don't deserve anything from
God except His judgment and condemnation. That's what we deserve. And yet
God made a promise and He said, they shall be saved. They shall
all come to me. They shall never perish. I'm
not going to cast them out. They're mine. I bought them.
And not only that, His long suffering towards us. is our salvation. Look here in verse 15. An account
that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation. His patience, His forbearance,
His willingness to restrain His wrath, and instead show mercy. That's our salvation, is it not?
God is jealous, God is slow to anger. Look back in our text,
Nahum 1, verse 3. The Lord is slow to anger and
great in power. God, we know this, God is on
his throne. God is in the heavens. God is
sovereign. He is omnipotent. God is our
king and God is also our judge. You see, we sin against each
other, but our sin is always against God. It's in the sight
of God. And He's the one we must stand before. He's the one we're
gonna appear before and give an account in the day of judgment. And He's great in power. He,
when we stand before Him, He has the power to cast us into
everlasting darkness, into the depths of hell. But praise God,
He also has the power to save us from the wrath which we deserve. And I'm so thankful to know that.
God, purposed to save. God purposed to save. His will
is to save a people. But not only that, not only is
that what God purposed in His heart to do, He's able to save. He will save, He's able to save.
Turn over just a few pages to Zephaniah chapter three. Zephaniah chapter three. Look
at verse 14. Sing, O daughter of Zion. Shout,
O Israel. Be glad and rejoice with all
the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy
judgments. He hath cast out thine enemy,
the King of Israel. Even the Lord is in the midst
of thee. Thou shalt not see evil anymore.
In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, fear thou not.
And to Zion, let not thine hands be slack or faint. Verse 17,
the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with
joy. He will rest in his love. He
will joy over thee with singing. The Lord our God is great in
power and he's mighty to save. If we've sinned against God,
The Lord Jesus Christ is mighty to save us. He's willing to save
us, and praise God, He's able to save. I love that, how it
said, the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will
save, not try to save, not maybe save, not make it possible for
us to be saved. He will save. He will save. Praise the Lord. Let's consider
for a moment what took place at the cross. It was not an attempt. It was not Christ trying to do
something. It wasn't like us where we attempt
something, where we make an effort, we take a stab at something.
That's not what took place. Verse two, back in our text,
tells us what happened. I'm sorry. Well, I'm not sure
where I am. But what happened on the cross
is the Lord took away our judgments. See, we had judgment coming.
We earned God's judgment. and He took our judgments away.
What happened on the cross, verse 15, He hath cast out our enemy. He took away our judgment, He
cast out our enemy. What's our enemy? Ourself, our
sin, He cast it away. We're crucified with Christ,
aren't we? Nevertheless, we live, we live in Him. Our life is in
Him, He is our life. And on the cross, in what appeared
to be a moment of weakness, everybody there who stood there crucifying
Him, they saw Him in weakness. They said, He saved others, Himself
He cannot save. They did not know by not saving
Himself, He was saving others. They said, if He be the King
of Israel, let Him come down now. He said, He's the Son of
God, let's see if God will have Him. That's what we said. But though it appeared to be
weakness, that was the greatest power ever revealed to man. When
our Lord hung on that cross and he opened not his mouth, when
he displayed his power to save to the uttermost, when he displayed
his power to forgive sin by putting it away, by the sacrifice of
himself, it's the greatest power this world has ever seen. The
very thing that provokes God to anger, The Lord Jesus Christ,
God incarnate, became sin. He suffered long. Just considering
what he became, what took place on that cross, that's long suffering
and that's our salvation. When he arose from the grave
victorious, we see his substitution and we see God's satisfaction.
Praise the Lord. Don't you see His power to save?
Do you need a God who's able to save you? I sure do. I sure do. Praise God He's able
and willing. Flip back in our text. Nahum 1 verse 3 again. It says,
the Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will not at
all acquit the wicked. If God will not at all acquit
the wicked, then how can I be saved? How's a sinner like me
gonna be accepted before God if He will not at all acquit
the wicked? That's strong language. Strong
language. Well, here's how. Here's how
I can be accepted. Christ made us righteous. When He was made sin, He made
us righteous, the righteousness of God in Him. He traded places
with us. He took what was ours and made
it His own, and He gave us what was rightfully His. And that's
our only hope. And this is also a strong statement,
but this is true. Christ did not die an innocent
man. Had He died an innocent man,
that would make God unjust. See, God said, I will by no means
clear the guilty, and that just implies He will by all means
punish the guilty, and by no means clear, He'll by no means
punish the innocent, right? An innocent man must go free,
the guilty must suffer, they must pay the price. God is a
just God, so therefore Christ died guilty. I realize that's
a fearful thing to say, but God's Word clearly declares that. See,
the God of the Bible, the God of heaven and earth, is a just
God. He cannot do anything that goes
against strict holy justice. But praise God, not only is He
a just God, He is also a Savior. Christ was made guilty when He
hung on that cross, our Savior. When he cried, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? We read the answer in Psalm 22,
because God is holy. Because God is holy. See, sin must be punished. That's
why Christ died. He died for sin. He died because
of sin, but he knew no sin. I'm not trying to say he was
a sinner. He was not. He had no guile in him, no sin
at all. He's the spotless, holy, perfect
Lamb of God. But on that cross, a work that
God did by himself, our sins became his. He laid on him the
iniquity of us all. He took them upon himself. He bore in his body our sins
on that tree. The only way God could smite
him, pour out his wrath on him, is if he truly were guilty. And I rejoice to know that when
he became guilty, we became innocent. Praise the Lord, he died the
just for the unjust that he might bring us to God. It's the only
way we're gonna be one with God. It's the only way sinners are
gonna have anything to do with God, any fellowship, any reconciliation. Praise the Lord Christ, he satisfied
the justice and judgment of God for us. I thought about that
man who was headed to a cross, or so he thought. And then, at
the last minute, they said, nope, you're free to go. Barabbas.
When we read that, doesn't it look like the wicked was acquitted? It's what it looks like, isn't
it? But that's just not the case.
That man had a substitute. I hope we can see ourselves in
that. I hope we can see ourselves in him. God made him righteous. He made him righteous. And look
back in our text. Verse three again. The Lord is
slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the
wicked. The Lord hath his way in the
whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his
feet. God has his way. God has his
way with everyone, everything, everywhere, all the time. He
always has, he always will. Does that not comfort you greatly?
Oh, that provides such comfort to me. He has his way in the
whirlwind and in the storm. Life is full of storms, isn't
it? Stormy trials, things come our way we don't understand.
We think, why me? Why is this happening to me?
But we need to remember something. Every time we're facing a trial,
remember where that trial came from. Remember who sins the trial. Remember why he sins it. Who
sent that storm that put Jonah in the whale's belly? God told
Jonah, he said, you go to Nineveh. You go to this wicked city. You
preach the gospel to them. Jonah said, mm-mm, I'm hightailing
it out of here. I'm going to go to Tarshish.
Well, he tried, didn't he? And God sent a storm. And those
men, they said, God, you're to blame here. We're throwing you
out of here. And next thing you know, he's in the belly of a
fish. And that really happened. We read that and think, no, that
didn't happen. That happened. How did he wind up there? God
put him there. Why'd God put him there? He put
him there because that's where he needed to be. God will put
us where we need to be. And we think we know what's right. We think we know where we need
to be. We just don't. Our Lord knows what's best for
us. Let me ask you another question. Who put Christ on the cross?
It says we, by wicked hands, put him there. It says that Pilate
delivered him to the will of the people. Who put him there?
God put him there. He went there on purpose. He
set his face like a flint, and from the day he was born, he
was about his father's business, and every day of his life, he
was marching straight toward that cross to redeem his people
from their sins. See, God sends the trial every
time. God sends the trial. You know,
trials, we put ourselves in a lot of trials, don't we? Our evil,
our sin, it gets us into trouble. But I rejoice to know God overrules
our evil for our good. Just like Joseph's brothers,
they did a horrible thing. They sold their brother, their
father's beloved son, they sold him as a slave for a little bit
of silver. And then lo and behold, years later, they come to find
out our brother whom we sold, he just saved our lives by a
great deliverance. And Joseph told him, he said,
yeah, you did this, you meant it for evil, but God meant it
for good. God sends the trials for our
good. The end of verse three says, the clouds are the dust
of his feet. I thought about when I've been in an airplane,
it's actually one of my favorite places to be, as you rise above
the clouds and you look down, you look down on the clouds.
That's just remarkable for me to say. You know, the clouds
are infinitely above us, aren't they? When I look down on those clouds,
I can't help but think of this verse. That's the dust of his
feet. That which is infinitely greater
than us, dust of God's feet. And I thought about this. Scriptures
declare us to be dust. And scriptures also declare heaven
to be us sitting at his feet. I can't wait. I want to show you
one more thing. Look here in 1, verse 4. He rebuketh the sea and maketh
it dry, and dryeth up all the rivers. Bashan languisheth, and
Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake
at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence,
yea, the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before
his indignation? Who can abide in the fierceness
of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are thrown down by him. The Lord is good. The Lord is good. God is good. If you ain't heard nothing else,
hear this. God is good. His jealousy is good. His patience
is good. His power is good. His justice,
His sovereignty, everything. There's a lot of things we haven't
even touched on, okay? Everything about the Lord our God is good.
good. Look at verse 6 again, it says,
Who can stand before His indignation? Who can abide, who can stand
in the fierceness of His anger? When His fury is poured out like
fire, the rocks are thrown down. Who can stand before such a God?
We're gonna stand in the judgment, but who's gonna withstand that
judgment? Who's gonna make it past the
judgment into the kingdom of God? I'll tell you who. those
who have a stronghold. Verse 7, it says, the Lord is
good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them
that trust in him. Brethren, the Lord Jesus Christ
is our stronghold. He's our hiding place. He's our storm shelter. He's
our refuge. If we're not in him, If we stand
before God in the judgment on our own, in our sinful flesh,
we will not be accepted. But if we stand dressed in the
righteousness of Christ alone, if we stand robed in Him from
top to bottom, we will be accepted. You see, Christ, He consumed
God's wrath in full. for us. That burning bush that
was not consumed, what a glorious picture of Christ. He withstood
God's judgment. He bore it all. He satisfied
it. He paid the price. And if we're
in Him, if God has put us in Him, if we're found in Him, we
will be accepted fully, perfectly, completely accepted in Him. Oh,
the goodness of our God. Say what you will about everything
else. We must believe Him to be who He says He is. I pray
that that we can rejoice in who God declares him to be. I'll
close with this question. Are you trusting in him? Verse
seven said, he knoweth them that trust in him. Oh, taste and see
that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in him. Amen.