Exposition of Nahum Part 2: God has the power to Judge and Save

Last installment: Part 1: Why God Judges Nations 

Nahum 1:3b-8

And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. 4 In the gale and the storm is His way, And clouds are the dust beneath His feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, The blossoms of Lebanon wither. 5 Mountains quake because of Him, And the hills come apart; Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence, The world and all the inhabitants in it.  6 Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath gushes forth like fire, And the rocks are broken up by Him. 7 The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him. 8 But with an overflowing flood He will make a complete end of [b]its site, And will pursue His enemies into darkness.

Establish the need: We saw last time God has the attributes that will make Him judge the wicked; but does He have the power to do so?

Purpose: We need to know God will one day come down to earth to give a global Judgment and still God will graciously save those who trust in Him.

• We need to know God has the power to judge with His power over nature (v.3b-5)
• We need to know God has the power to judge with His power over humans (v.6-8)

We need to know God has the power to judge with His power over nature (3b-5)

Passage: “In the gale and the storm is His way, And clouds are the dust beneath His feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, The blossoms of Lebanon wither. 5 Mountains quake because of Him, And the hills come apart; Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence, The world and all the inhabitants in it.”

Proof

God arriving to judge: “In the gale and the storm is His way, And clouds are the dust beneath His feet” (v.3b)

1. There’s a general downward direction in this passage from clouds to sea then land (Timmer, 81).
2. The word “gale” (translated “whirlwind” in KJV) is used elsewhere in prophetic literature to refer to God’s coming for judgment: Isaiah 66:15, Jeremiah 4:13 (Timmer, 81).
3. “And clouds are the dust beneath His feet”= Again image of God descending with majesty. Typically Assyrian’s army would create dusts visible to its enemies but here we see it is God’s glorious coming that will bring fear and dread (Cook, 34).

Effects on water: “He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He dries up all the rivers.” (v.4a)

1. The first line “He rebukes the sea and dries it up” echoes God’s splitting the Sea during Exodus as described in Psalm 106:9a= “So He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up” (Timmer, 82).
2. Extent: “He dries up all the rivers” shows this is greater than the drying of the Jordan River that God has performed in Joshua 4:23 and 5:1 (Timmer, 82).

Effects on the plant life: “Bashan and Carmel wither, The blossoms of Lebanon wither.” (v.4b)

1. Here we see the theme of God drying things up (Timmer, 83).
2. “Bashan and Carmel” are some of the most fertile regions (Timmer, 83).
   1. Bashan is plateau east of Lake of Galilee and fertile soil from volcanic deposits (Timmer, 83-84).
   2. Carmel is near coast, has high elevation and good rainfall (Timmer, 84).
3. Lebanon is not part of Israel but it is frequently described in the Bible for its Cedars and trees: 1 Kings 4:33, 5:6, 2 Kings 14:9, 19:23, Ezra 3:7, Psalm 29:5 (Timmer, 84).
4. There doesn’t seem to be a targeted reason why these area wither other than a Theophany poses danger to life (Timmer, 84).

Effect on elevated grounds: “Mountains quake because of Him, And the hills come apart” (v.5a)

1. In the Hebrew both mountains and hills are nuanced, appearing before the verb, since this is shocking.
2. Mountains and hills are not easy to change and yet they are both undone when God shows up to judge (Timmer, 85).
3. Even creation here tremble before God (Cook, 38).

Effect’s extent: “Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence, The world and all the inhabitants in it” (v.5b)

Recall in Jonah that God uses nature and no doubt when God comes to judge He will also put it in display in a much greater way.

Picture: Power and authority are distinct. For instance hypothetically one can have a man who became a father at age 65.  When the son is 16 the father is 81.  The son be more physically powerful than the ailing father.  Still the father has authority over the son; obviously the son being more powerful doesn’t mean he necessarily have authority over his father merely by being stronger!  Yet the wicked often confuse “might makes right” and do evil.  So to judge evil, power is needed.  And Nahum here tells us God has the power (capability) to judge the wicked.

Practice

1. In many Christians circle today there is more focus on God’s love than the truth of God’s coming to judge sins; do you yourself have an imbalance in your perspective and outlook on Christianity?
2. Seeing this of God’s power, let this also comfort you if you face persecution from wicked men; after all the name “Nahum” means comfort.

We need to know God has the power to judge with His power over humans (6-8)

Passage: “6 Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath gushes forth like fire, And the rocks are broken up by Him. 7 The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him. 8 But with an overflowing flood He will make a complete end of its site, And will pursue His enemies into darkness.”

Proof

Two central question: “Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger?” (v.6a)= Both questions are synonymous.

Reminder of the reality of God’s wrath: “His wrath gushes forth like fire, And the rocks are broken up by Him” (v.6b)

1. God’s wrath is compared to fire: “like fire”
2. God’s wrath “gushes forth” which denotes an uninterrupted process; think of a volcano (Timmer, 87).
3. Rocks breaking up show God’s power destroying the earth itself.

Good news: One can be saved! “The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him” (v.7)

1. First word in this verse is “Good” which is nuanced. Hope begin with God, and God is good.
2. In the next phrase God is described here now as shelter: “A stronghold” and this is the case during “the day of trouble” which in context refers to God’s coming to judge.
3. Who can be saved? “And He knows those who take refuge in Him”
   1. “And He knows”= God knowing expresses a special relationship He has with them; see Genesis 18:19, Exodus 32:12 (Timmer, 88).
   2. Those who are saved are “those who take refuge in Him” which involves trusting in God.
      1. Nowhere in Nahum does God intervene because people are righteous; it is taking refuge in God that saves (Cook, 39).
      2. Amazing: To be saved from God and His wrath, one can trust in God (Timmer, 89).
      3. Notice also its not a nationality who are saved or someone of an ethnic identity; this is open to those who trust in God (Timmer, 91).

Yet God will also judge His enemies: “But with an overflowing flood He will make a complete end of its site, And will pursue His enemies into darkness” (v.8)

1. Two lines in this verse with both having dynamic image and imagery of completion (Timmer, 89):
   1. Dynamic image: “But with an overflowing flood”; Imagery of completion: “He will make a complete end of its site”
   2. Dynamic image: “And will pursue His enemies”; Imagery of completion: “into darkness”
2. What is Nahum referring to with the phrase “its site”? In the Hebrew it is a third person feminine singular suffix (“her”).  It seems to refer to Nineveh.
3. A balance message from God’s Word has both warning of wrath and word of salvation: Nahum 1:7 uses exactly eight Hebrew words to talk about possibility of salvation and Nahum 1:8 also uses same number of Hebrew words to describe destruction of the wicked (Timmer, 90).

Practice

1. Have you pondered the crucial questions in verse 6?
2. Which verse will apply to you? Nahum 1:7 or Nahum 1:8?
3. Make sure you have trusted in Christ to save you from your sins. If you are not saved, trust in Him today.
4. If you are saved, are you thankful that we can find refuge in God?