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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Sunday, 3 December 2023:
Note: Here is a short video overview of Nahum: https://youtu.be/Y30DanA5EhU
Nahum 1:2 — The Lord is a jealous and avenging God.
Many act as if this statement only applies to the “Old Testament God.” However, James says, “Do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’”? (James 4:5) God does not change. It is important to understand that God’s jealousy is not the same as human jealousy which is condemned in Galatians 5:20 and other verses. In human jealousy, people desire to selfishly keep and control what isn’t rightfully theirs at the expense of another. Conversely, God perfectly and lovingly protects what is rightfully His for the benefit of all. God knows He is our Life, and He intends for nothing to get between us and Him.
Most human jealously is self-centered and sinful, but not all jealousy. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:2, “For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” Note that Paul’s motive was the same as God’s, to let nothing get between God and others; Paul’s jealousy was protective love, guarding others’ relationship with God against the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Are you jealous for God’s glory and for the salvation and sanctification of everyone around you?
- Psalm 78:58 — For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols.
In His righteous jealousy, God hates our idols, those things we allow to distract us from Him or take priority in our lives. God will tear down our idols, often in painful ways, for our good and His glory – “When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him.” (Psalm 39:11)
- Hebrews 12:5-10 — And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
God is jealous for your holiness and wants you to be jealous for others’ holiness too.
Nahum 1:3 — The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
God is patient but will also hold all accountable. Through grace, we have forgiveness of our sins, but grace is not an excuse to continue in sin. With His children, God punishes but does not condemn. God’s discipline is intended to draw us closer to Him, not further away, that we would truly know Him in unity and have the abundance of life. Be thankful for God’s discipline.
- Psalm 118:18 — The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
- Proverbs 3:11 — My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof,
- Proverbs 6:23 — For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
- Proverbs 12:1 — Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.
- Proverbs 13:24 — Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.
- Proverbs 19:18 — Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.
- Proverbs 22:15 — Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
- 1 Corinthians 11:32 — But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
- Hebrews 12:6-11 — For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Nahum 1:7, 8 – The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
Jesus is no better friend but no worse enemy.
The subject of Nahum’s prophecy is the approaching complete and final destruction of Nineveh, the capital of the great and at that time flourishing Assyrian empire. Nineveh was a city of vast extent, and was then the center of the civilization and commerce of the world, a “bloody city all full of lies and robbery” (Nahum 3:1), for it had robbed and plundered all the neighboring nations. It was strongly fortified on every side, bidding defiance to every enemy. Massive walls were eight miles in circumference. It had a water aqueduct, palaces and a library with 20,000 clay tablets, including accounts of a creation in Enuma Elish and a flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
We just read about Nineveh in Jonah when God, in His mercy and grace, offered Nineveh a chance to repent and spareed Nineveh from His wrath, much to the dismay of Jonah who had witnessed first-hand the evils of the Assyrian Empire. In Jonah we see that God is “slow to anger.” (Nahum 1:3). Yet, after their repentance and God’s forgiveness, Nineveh returned to its wicked ways, defying the mercy, grace, sovereignty, and holiness of God. Spiritually, they become adulterous, and now in Nahum God will reveal His wrath, something that isn’t talked much about anymore. (Nahum 3:4) Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Nineveh is about to learn this the hard way. In our forgiveness, we must be very cautious not to mock God and denigrate Jesus’s sacrifice for our sins by continuing in the sins for which we have been forgiven.
Nahum 1:15 — Fulfill your vows.
God expects Christians to walk in complete integrity. Jesus said, “Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’ Most importantly, we must fulfill our vow to Him as His bride and walk in faithfulness and purity as His and His alone.
Psalm 140:1, 2 – Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men, who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually.
Compare these verses with Proverbs 26:17-28. God wants us to call on Him to protect us from the ungodly.
Psalm 140:11 – Let not the slanderer be established in the land; let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!
Eventually evil catches up to the sinner.
Psalm 141:1, 2 — O LORD, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
Read on to see the content of the psalmist’s dire prayer, and consider how his prayer compares with your most desperate prayers.
Psalm 141:3, 4 — Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies!
The psalmist’s approach to life’s problems wasn’t to change his circumstances but rather to change his heart and his interpretation and response to his circumstances. The psalmist’s prayer was that God would keep him from losing perspective of who God is and who he was as God’s child, to keep from being influenced by the darkness around him rather than being a light in a dark world. The psalmist asked desperately for the Lord give him self-control which is a gift of the Spirit and not merely will power.
Psalm 141:5 — Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it.
The psalmist understood, at least intellectually, that all circumstances are actually gifts from God to grow us into Christlike character and draw us closer to Him while also fulfilling God’s greater purposes in the world through us. The psalmist accepted all his circumstances and trusted God with the outcomes. How different is that mentality than what you see from most people? Consider the psalmist’s prayer with the following verses:
- Job 2:9-10 — Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 — Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
- John 17:15 — I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
- Philippians 4:12-13 — I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
- Romans 8:28-29 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Proverbs 3:1-7 — My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.
Love and faithfulness go hand-in-hand, or as Psalm 85:10 says, “Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.” The Bible says that the Lord is “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6, Psalm 86:15).” God’s love is characterized by forgiveness and fidelity in the midst of infidelity. Proverbs 16:6 says, “Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.” Proverbs also explains that what men and women truly desire is “unfailing (or faithful) love (Proverbs 19:22).” As discussed briefly yesterday, Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command (John 14:15).” Today’s Proverbs exhort us to take God’s commands to “heart” and to write them on the tablets of our hearts as an act of love to God and to others. This will require careful study of God’s Word. Psalm 138:2 says, “I will… praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your WORD.” Following God’s word will require great trust in the Lord, leaning not in our own understanding which is completely flawed. Remember, God said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways… As the heavens are higher than the earth (an infinite amount), so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8, 9).”
Also, we must “shun evil.” To love flowers you must hate weeds. This is not passive it is active. We must take steps in our lives to avoid that which might lead us to sin as an act of fidelity to the Lord. Obedience is not motivated by pride or fear but rather love and respect. Of course, in our imperfection, we fail daily, but daily we live by God’s grace and grow in our love, shining just a little brighter each day.
Proverbs 3:11, 12 – My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
Faith believes that when God punishes His children, it is always from a position of perfect love. Hard times might actually be God’s act of love towards you.
Proverbs 3:17 – Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
Wisdom brings pleasantness and peace.
Proverbs 3:26 – …for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.
If your confidence is in anything but the LORD, your peace and joy will always be uncertain and unstable. If your confidence is in the LORD, you will be like Paul, content in any situation.
Proverbs 3:28 — Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it” —when you have it with you.
See a need; meet the need. Don’t worry, it’s all God’s stuff anyway, so you’re not losing anything.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 3 December 2023: Let your jealousy for God’s glory consume any selfish, unrighteous jealousy you may feel.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 