God's Comfort (Nahum) Series

Several years ago, The Huffington Post ran a series of cartoons depicting the fears that both children and adults have. They titled the series “Childhood Fears vs. Adult Fears.” Here they are:

• Childhood fear: Doctors. Adult fear: Doctor's bills.

• Childhood fear: Bad dreams. Adult fear: Unfulfilled dreams.

• Childhood fear: Strangers. Adult fear: Crippling social anxiety.

• Childhood fear: Clowns. Adult fear: Clowns

(Suzie Strutner, “Childhood Fears vs. Adult Fears, In 4 Hilarious Comics,” Huffington Post, 10-17-16; www.PreachingToday.com).

It seems that many adults never outgrow their fears. How about you? What are you afraid of? Well, whatever it is, God has a word of comfort for you from Nahum, the prophet, whose very name means “comfort.”

Nahum was speaking to the little nation of Judah a little over 600 years before Christ, which was under threat from the Assyrian Empire (sometime between 663 and 612 B.C.). The Assyrians had recently overrun Israel (722 B.C.), Judah’s neighbor to the north, and were encroaching upon Judah itself. In fact, Assyria had defeated much of Judah and had even surrounded Jerusalem in 701 B.C. when Hezekiah was king. Hezekiah prayed for deliverance and God miraculously stopped the Assyrian invasion (2 Kings 19:35-37; Isaiah 37:36-38). But during much of the next king’s reign, Judah had to pay tribute to Assyria just to keep them at bay.

The Assyrians were cruel. They piled the heads of their enemy soldiers in front of the cities they captured. They impaled enemy soldiers on stakes and stripped off their skin. They burned young men and women alive. One of the Assyrian kings boasted about a leader he captured, “I pierced his chin with my keen hand dagger. Through his jaw… I passed a rope, put a dog chain upon him and made him occupy… a kennel” (Johnson, Bible Knowledge Commentary).

Such was the threat that Judah faced when the prophet Nahum spoke words of warning to the Assyrians, which were words of comfort to the Jews. They are also words of comfort to all of God’s people, to you, no matter what threat you face.

If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to the Old Testament book of Nahum, the book of Nahum towards the end of the Old Testament, the book of Nahum, where you will see God’s words of comfort for you and for all who depend on Him.

Nahum 1:1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh (ESV).

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, in which Jonah had preached over a hundred years before this. Then, the Assyrians repented of their sins and turned to the Lord. There was great revival, but that revival lasted no more than one generation. Soon, the Assyrians were back to their cruel and sinful ways, which put them under God’s wrath again.

Nahum 1:2-6 The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him (ESV).

God’s wrath burns against His enemies, but He is good to those who depend on Him.

Nahum 1:7 The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him (ESV).

In the midst of the fire of God’s wrath, He provides a safe place for those who take refuge in Him.

Nahum 1:8-13 But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness. What do you plot against the LORD? He will make a complete end; trouble will not rise up a second time. For they are like entangled thorns, like drunkards as they drink; they are consumed like stubble fully dried. From you came one who plotted evil against the LORD, a worthless counselor. Thus says the LORD, “Though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. And now I will break his yoke from off you and will burst your bonds apart” (ESV).

God will completely destroy His enemies and remove your affliction.