When I was in junior high school, if you had asked me who the meanest person in the world was, I would have said Adolph Hitler. But my mom ranked a close second with Mussolini! She would not let me do everything I wanted to do! She made me do chores! If I didn’t do them right the first time, I had to do them a second time! She made me do church work on Saturdays instead of watching cartoons. She made me wash dishes instead of watching TV! She made me control my emotions.
Part of a parents’ instruction and training is getting mad at the right things and expressing their anger at the right time and in the right way.
The wrath of God is a concept that humans – especially Americans I think – really don’t want to consider. The English word “wrath” is found almost 200 times in the Bible. There are a host of synonymous concepts, too.
Let’s take a look at Nahum…
THE NATURE OF GOD – chapter 1:
Notice how Nahum describes Jehovah God in verses 2-3. Nahum uses a number of figures of speech to illustrate the destructive nature of the powerful wrath of God. And he states in verse 6: “Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger?” Of course, the question is: No one!
In the midst of the discussion about God’s wrath is the promise of peace, the allusion to ministers of the gospel (ver. 15): “Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace!” The text is similar to, if not a quotation of, what Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 52:1, quoted by the apostle Paul in Romans 10:15. So Nahum calls on Judah to return to their worship of Jehovah God, regardless of what Assyria was doing. Because God deserves to be worshipped!
GOD’S ENEMY WILL BE DESTROYED – chapter 2:
God calls on His people to be strong (ver. 1) because God will protect His people (ver. 2).
Nineveh with her shields and warriors and chariots terrified the Israelites, but God will terrify them. Verse 10 notes that their hearts were melting and their knees were knocking! Anguish was in the whole body. Their faces had grown pale.
Notice verse 13: “Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts. “I will burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”
GOD’S ENEMY WILL BE RUINED – chapter 3:
In verse 1, Nahum says, “Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage; her prey never departs.” God has rebuked Nineveh for three specific sins: idolatry, lies, and pillaging.
In verse 4, Nahum will mention “harlotries,” which is a figure of speech in the OT for idolatry. Moses used the expression as early as Exodus 34:15-16. God wants and demands all of mankind’s allegiance; that’s why He is jealous (1:2). Therefore, to give our allegiance to someone or something else is spiritual adultery, or harlotry.
In a few verses, Nahum mocks Nineveh: her city is full of women, not warriors (ver. 13). They can strengthen their fortifications, but it will not protect them from the wrath of God (ver. 14-15). Their soldiers are like locusts (ver. 15-17), but they will not accomplish anything.
JESUS SAVES US FROM THE WRATH OF GOD:
It goes without saying again that God’s wrath is directed at sin and those who persist in sin, against those who refuse to believe in God and refuse to obey the Gospel of God’s Son. The first recipient of the wrath of God, of course, was Satan himself. Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:41 that hell was prepared for the devil and his angels.
But for those who refuse to respond to the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ, then they, too, will experience the wrath of God in the eternal fires of hell. Without going into an in-depth discussion of the nature of hell, I just draw your attention to the words of Jesus in Matthew 8:12 where He describes hell as “outer darkness; where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Hell is the place where the wrath of God will find its outlet, its fulfillment throughout all eternity.
Let us trust Jesus and be faithful to His Gospel so we can avoid the eternal wrath of God.
Paul Holland
