Devotions this week based on The Prophets Week 7 – Nahum (WATCH HERE)
Our culture demands justice…usually.
When someone commits mass murder, justice demands life in prison or the death penalty.
When someone molests a child, justice demands that person be taken out of society never to interact with a child again.
When someone robs a bank, justice demands the return of the money and time in jail.
In general our culture recognizes the wrong of these things and would cry, “Injustice!” if a perpetrator of this sort is not held accountable. No one would protest the judicial system if these people are sent to prison.
However, for some, justice is not justice if I don’t think it’s fair. Justice becomes relative to who I think should be setting the standard. At the root is really individuals desire to determine what is right and wrong for themselves and have no one hold them accountable.
Into this mindset, it is often hard for people to understand the justice of God. Underneath is a desire to not be accountable to God and God not to be serious about sin and his standard.
Yet this is where the prophet Nahum starts:
The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath.The Lord takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies.
3 The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.
4 He rebukes the sea and dries it up; he makes all the rivers run dry.
Bashan and Carmel wither and the blossoms of Lebanon fade.
5 The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away.
The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it.
6 Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him.
The Lord has his holy standard. When it is violated by sin, denial of the Lord or opposition to the Lord, his justice kicks in. He is slow to anger, but will not leave the guilty unpunished.
Nineveh, although it repented under Jonah 100 years earlier, it had returned to its ways that promoted evil, idolatry and oppression of God’s people.
They became enemies of God.
So the Lord takes vengeance.
He must. To allow evil, idolatry and oppression of his people would be inconsistent with his holiness. To be holy, he can not allow evil to stand.
One may try to object to his standard, but God is the ultimate standard.
His vengeance is not motivated by cruelty or desire to see people suffer but by his holiness…and love.
True love cannot ignore evil. If God were indifferent to injustice he would be morally deficient. Nahum shows a God who is both just and good, dealing rightly with evil, yet willing to show mercy to all who trust in him.
Who can endure the Lord’s fierce anger? The implied answer is no one—not on their own. No power, nation, or person can withstand the judgment of a holy God. But here’s the hope: this same God who “will not leave the guilty unpunished” (v.3) offered His own Son to bear that punishment on our behalf. The cross is where the justice of Nahum 1 meets the mercy of John 3:16.
Apply: What challenges you about the justice of God? What blessings are yours because of the justice of God?
Prayer: Prayer: God of justice and mercy, help me trust Your character when the world feels dark. Teach me to rest in Your timing, knowing that You are both righteous and good.”