Nahum 1:1-14.  I’m sorry for all of the holes in the schedule.  I was sick for about five weeks and way behind in work.  Switching books creates a challenge because I want to provide good background information in the introduction to the book so we can all understand what we are reading better.  That requires extra study and writing.  The fact that there are holes in the schedule does not mean that I am not having an active relationship with God however.  I still go to church, still study and tech, still pray, and still get input each day from Christian music and teaching on the radio.  I also have frequent interaction with other believers where we challenge each other in our relationship with God (fellowhip) and unbelievers who challenge me about God where I have to think about and defend what I believe (witnessing).  But still I miss the deep time in the Bible that comes from doing this daily blog.

If you read the introduction then you know that the word oracle means burden.  This vision is a burden to Nahum and it is about Ninevah.  In the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Old Testament used in the time of Jesus) the book of Nahum comes right after the book of Jonah.  The two books together show the complimentary truths of God’s mercy and justice and both are about the Assyrian people.  In this case we will be looking at God’s justice or dealing with disobedience and rebellion (sin).  We see this right away in verse 2 where God is described as jealous and avenging and wrathful.  The word jealous deals with God passion or strong feelings about what is going on in history.  The idea behind avenging is that he deals with things that are wrong.  Finally the word translated “wrathful” is baal.  It was the name of an ancient false god in the area but the word also means master, lord, even husban.  The idea is someone in control, which is not what we think of when we think of wrath.  In this case we need to realize that God is a God of power who deals with things.

Verse 3 is pretty cool because we see that God is cool too.  His reath is not some hot headed reaction to sin but he is “slow to anger”  the rest of the truth is that he will not let the “guilty go unpunished”.  In verse 4-5 we see that God has real power over the universe and at the end of verse 5 we see that he is willing to use that power in the lives of people too.

In verse 6 we are all warned that no one can stand up to God but we are reassured in verse 7 that if we turn our evil lives over to God that he will be a fort to us.

Verses 9-12 are a sort of general warning that God can and will deal with disobedience and rebellion (sin) but it is also a specific warning to Ninevah about their evil toward Judah (remember that this is a “burden” about Ninevah and a vision of “comfort” to Judah; see the “Intro to Nahum”).

The end of verse 12 and verse 13 are words of comfort to Judah, the oppression will end.  Verse 14 is a final warning to Ninevah that their name will end and that not even their gods can save them from the LORD (all capitals in verse 14 is a way the translators are telling us that this is the personal name of the one true God, Yahweh).

I’m not sure I really like seeing God’s wrath even if it is contrlooed and directed at sin.  The reason is because I know that I am rebellious too.  I am a sinned and deserve punishment too.  I deserve to have my name end too.  But there is comfort in the fact that God is a fort or shelter for those who take refuge in him.  He will not leave the guilty unpunished, and that is me.  But Isaiah (who wrote just a little before Nahum) tells us that all our sins were put on Jesus (Isaiah 53:6).  So I have refuge in God through Jesus.  And I can remember how God forgave that earlier generation of Ninevites who turned to him too in the book of Jonah.  Praise God for his mercy.

God thank you for these twin books of Jonah and Nahum in them I see that you are serious about sin.  But you are also serious about saving people and that is why you became a man and took the punishment for me.  Thank you for being my refuge.  Help me forever take refuge in you .

Micah 7:1-20.  Today’s reading takes off where yesterday’s left off.  Micah declares that he is in big trouble.  Why?  Because he lives in an evil time where there is not justice in the land.  There are no people who love God anymore (v. 2).  But this section is not just about Micah’s time it is about the time of Jesus and ours too.  If you have read “The Old Testament Connection” they you might remember that the Jewish people were chosen to help us understand our broken relationship with God.  Their history is an example to us all.  In Matthew 10 Jesus sent his followers out to tell people about him.  He warned them that they would experience trouble for doing it.  In Matthew 10:35-36 he quotes Micah 7:6.  So Micah’s situation and that of Jesus’ followers were similar and ours will be too.  If we want God to be honored in our lives and in our times then we are in big trouble.

In verse 8 we see the hope of Micah, a hope that can be ours too.  Micah was waiting for God to take care of him just like he did for the Israelites in Egypt.  Psalm 90:2 tells us that God is the same from eternity past to eternity future.  Psalm 103:17 tells us that God’s love is also from eternity past to eternity future for those who honor God.  The book of Hebrew uses the same kind of language about Jesus tell us that he never changes (Hebrews 13:8)  God and Jesus are faithful they have “hesed” (see yesterday’s post).  In verse 9 we see that Micah knew that there would be hard times in his life, he even realized that some of them were because he had disobeyed and dishonored God (He tells us he had sinned too).  But he knew that there would be a day in the future when everyone who had made fun of him for trusting God would be embarrassed by the way they had treated him.  Verses 10-13 seem to talk mostly about the trouble that people who have rejected God will experience in that future time.  But even then there is hope and “hesed” because the Israelites will have one last chance to lead the world to God.  In verse 11 we see walls being rebuilt.  This is probably a reference to Jerusalem as a symbol of the Jewish nation and the spiritual influence they were supposed to have in the world.  This idea become more clear in verse 12 when we see the world turning to the person or group being talked about in verse 11.

Verses 14-20 take off on this idea of Israel getting one last chance to fulfill God’s plan for them.  Verse 14 staarts out as a prayer by Micah asking God to lead his people but turns into a prediction that the Israelites will eventually fulfill God’s original role for them.  The punishment will pass and they will have a chance to honor God with their lives.   Verses 19 and 20 tell us why the Israelites will get another chance because God is merciful (hesed; see yesterday’s post).

The same mercy that the Israelites received is available to us too.  The same unchanging God loves us too.  All of us have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6) but God is willing to put all our wrong doing on Jesus back.  But like we learned yesterday we have to give it up to him.  God’s mercy is huge and his character never changes but we must come to him like the nations will in the end.  As we live for him we need to focus on Him and put our hope in him.  God is our salvation today and forever.

God thank you for being so consistent.  I know you have standards and that I have broken your rules.  I also know that there are consequences today and in eternity.  I also know that Jesus took those consequences for me.  I don’t want to pay this debt, thank you for taking it.  Help me live each day for you.  Thank you that there is a future day when you will fix all the brokenness of our world.  Thank you that I can be a part of your future kingdom.  Thank you for your mercy, help me keep hoping in you till that future arrives.