As most of you know, a dozen of us returned a few days ago from Louisiana after spending a week with Brethren Disaster Service repairing a couple of houses. The stories we heard from people who lived in those houses helped us understand how difficult life has been for them for the past two years.
Frank told us about the wall of water that crashed through the front windows of his house, taking out the windows on the other side. His king-sized mattress somehow got pushed through the narrow bathroom door, ending up in the bathtub. Water rose to four feet above the floor inside the house. When it receded after four days, he found live fish still swimming in the cooler in his garage. He was glad he didn’t find snakes in his house as some did. Muck was everywhere. Of course, flooring, wiring and walls had to be replaced.
Rose talked about her neighbor’s big boat that somehow ended up on her side of a 5-foot fence in the back of her house. The whole first floor of her house had to be gutted and rebuilt. Both of them talked about the looting that went on afterwards. They lost valuable possessions because of it.
When we toured the larger area, we began to grasp the scope of the damage. It was not just a house here and a house there that was damaged. The whole city was under siege. All of life was turned upside down. Houses were on top of cars and cars were on top of houses. Boats and barges ended up on land. Nearly 20,000 trees were destroyed. Some big trees fell down and split houses in two. Other trees pulled up water and sewer lines when they fell because their roots were wrapped around them. Water, power, telephone, sewer lines, highways, and bridges –all the systems a city depends on for living - were rendered useless. The entire city had been brought to its knees, completely humbled in the wake of the storm. And some wonder if the Big Easy will ever recover.
The Bible says that we can experience God in the storm. Psalm 29 says, “The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over mighty waters.” Our scripture today comes from Nahum in the OT. On our journey through the Bible, we are preaching one sermon from Nahum. He says in 1:3 that we can see God “in the whirlwind and storm.”
Most of us probably grew up thinking that storms are scary things. I remember getting up in the middle of the night as a child and sitting between my parents on the sofa downstairs in the living room while the lightning flashed and the thunder rolled during severe storms in Iowa.
But the book of Nahum reminds us that God makes himself known through storms. He uses them to accomplish his purposes. The words we sang say,
God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm.”
Storms are a part of life. You may be going through one right now. You may wonder what God is trying to say to you. Of course, I’m not just talking about storms of nature. We all know about stormy marriages and family relationships. We know about financial storms and physical conditions that cloud our lives. Nahum reminds us that earthly calamities are not the total picture. In the whirlwind and storm we can find God’s purposes.
Maybe you have never read this little book of Nahum. One commentator describes it as “a poem, stately, orderly, and impressive, all the parts of which are well-arranged and mutually conducive to the unity of the whole.” (Pulpit Commentary) Beautiful as it is, you may read it and come away wondering what it is about. Some of the language seems difficult to understand. But God has included it in his Word for a reason and today we want to consider its message.
Nahum’s specific message has to do with what will happen to the city of Ninevah, located near today’s city of Mosul, in Iraq. Nahum said it would be destroyed. And later when the Tigris River rose exceptionally high, it was destroyed.
Do you recall the story of Jonah, the prophet God sent to Ninevah to ask them to repent of their wickedness? And do you remember that when Jonah refused to carry out God’s request, God sent a storm, and Jonah ended up with a whale of a problem?
When you read the book of Jonah, just two books before Nahum, you find that God gave Jonah a second chance. Eventually, Jonah went to Ninevah to preach and to tell the people that the city would be destroyed within 40 days if they didn’t repent. And to Jonah’s surprise, the whole city repented, including the king and all the people, and they became obedient, even though Jonah had been disobedient. And because they repented, God did not destroy the city.
Maybe you thought they lived happily ever. But Nahum helps us understand the rest of the story. He delivers a message of judgment to Ninevah because the people forgot God and had lapsed into their old ways. And even though it was a great city with 8 miles of massive walls, Nahum said that God would send a flood and destroy it. And 100 years or so after Jonah that is what happened. As a result, the whole nation perished. They did not recognize the power and sovereignty of God. They failed to see that God is the ultimate ruler in our universe. Nahum’s words remind us that if there is anything we need to understand, it is that God is over all the earth. No matter how strong your armies. No matter how much stuff you have. No matter how big your bank account. No matter how modern you think you are, God is sovereign. He is in control. And storms help us see that.
Nahum is a short OT book with only three chapters. We are not going to spend time on the details of the poetry. Instead, I want to use three questions to help us think about Nahum’s message.
Question 1. How often do you think about the possibility that God is at work in your world? Let’s get specific. Did anything happen this past week to remind you that God had done something in your life? Wednesday evening as we shared with each other during prayer meeting, several people mentioned experiences in which they knew God had entered their lives that day or recently. (Jim shares his experience.)
When you read Nahum, you can’t help but notice his frame of reference. God is behind the storms. God is present in good times and in bad. In 1:2 “The Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries.” In 1:4 “He rebukes the sea and makes it dry.” In 1:7 “He protects those who take refuge in him.”
Unfortunately, our world has become so secular that we don’t hear much God-talk, at least not reverential God-talk. We are so busy we don’t have time to wait on him. Our TVs are loud. Ear buds fill our ears. We listen to so many gadgets we can’t hear God. We don’t notice what he is doing around us. Sometimes it takes a storm to get our attention.
I’m not a prophet like Nahum, so I can’t tell you why one event or another happens in our world. I’m sure Gayle Rayman is wondering why it was her steer that was electrocuted at the Putnam County fair last Tuesday. According to the Lima News, Fair officials call it an “act of God.” But when something on the scale of 9/ll or Katrina or the Tsunami takes place, I begin to wonder if God is saying something to our world.
I read that Henry Blackaby, author of the bestselling book “Experiencing God,” made a thought provoking observation after the tsunami in southern Asia. He said he thinks divine retribution was at work.
Here is what he said at a Kentucky pastors’ conference soon after it happened. He said he didn’t fully appreciate the significance of the destruction until he saw a map published by Voice of the Martyrs depicting the most intense regions of Christian martyrdom worldwide. (Show map.) (http://www.biblicalrecorder.org/content/news/2005/1_26_2005/ne260105blackaby.shtml)
Blackaby said he noticed that the tsunami hit many of the same regions where persecution has been taking place. He said that most Christians don’t realize that 400 - 450,000 believers are killed annually for their faith, and that many regions of persecution shown on the map "match to a T" the tsunami’s swath of destruction.
He went on to say, “If you read the Old Testament, God is very concerned how the nations treat His covenant people." And if you think that is harsh, he said, “The final judgment will be more severe than this."
However, such warnings aren’t restricted to Asia, Blackaby said. He noted that the news media had summarized that year in 2004 as an unprecedented year for natural disasters in this nation. Each time God sends hurricanes, floods or other calamities He is speaking to His people, Blackaby said. Unfortunately, God’s people often “fail to make the connection with their sin." Have you thought about all the drought, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes our country has gone through recently? Nature itself seems to be crying out at the expressions of oppression, violence, and other ways people are disobedient to God. God does arise and come to judgment.
The storms of life may be a reminder that God wants our attention. Here is a suggestion that comes from something a 4th grader said in VBS. He said, “Every night I ask myself “What does war accomplish in this world?”
What questions do you ask yourself at the end of the day? Maybe we should ask, “Where did I see God at work today?” I think Nahum might have done that.
Question 2. How have you experienced God’s compassion and comfort? I find it interesting that Nahum’s name meant compassion or comfort. Nahum wasn’t interested in just beating on people who had sinned. I don’t think he was happy to see Ninevah go down the tube. He wanted them to know that God has a heart of compassion. Sure God is powerful, as v. 3 says, but God is also slow to anger. What does that mean? It means that God is no hurry to hand out his final judgment.
In II Peter, the writer is answering the charge that Jesus evidently is not coming back. (Read 3:8,9). God is a compassionate being. Nahum 1:7 says, “The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of trouble.”
Some of you probably read this in the Messenger. (read)
The personal storms we go through can awaken us to God’s comfort and compassion. God may send someone to lighten the burden, to encourage you.
Think back over this past week. How have you experienced God’s comfort? Did God send someone to come along side you to help you get through your storm?
And before you leave that question, think about ways that God can work through you to comfort others. The Apostle Paul knew what it meant to be comforted. (II Cor. 1:3,4). The second verse of God Moves in a Mysterious way says,
You fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head.
Saints throughout the ages have experienced God’s comfort. Have you?
Question 3. Are you looking forward to God’s ultimate triumph and victory? The Bible makes clear that God is in control of history. It is his story. Time began with him. Time will end with him. He is the alpha and the omega, the A and the Z, the beginning and the end.
In 1:15, Nahum says Look! On the mountains the feet of one who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace. Note: he appears on the mountain, where everyone can see him. He will bring a message that will calm your hearts rather than to put you on edge or make you afraid. This is God’s peace Nahum is talking about. If those words sound familiar, it is probably because you have read them In Isa. 52:7 or Rom. 10:15. These words announce the good news that God has intervened in our world to bring hope. And he did it through Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Because of Jesus, the barriers between God and humanity can be broken down. The walls between tribes and nations and races and enemies have been dissolved.
One of the church’s greatest opportunities and one of its greatest challenges is to experience the breaking down of those walls. Christ died so that walls between different types of people can be broken down and bridges can be built between them. Unfortunately, many people are looking for churches where they can find people like themselves. Our challenge is to get past that mindset and include everyone in the family.
When Christ’s victory is complete, we will realize the picture we see described in Rev. 7:9,10. Nahum tells his audience in v. 15 to go ahead and celebrate. Enjoy your worship together. Sing your songs of praise. Keep your faith alive!
We all know how it feels to come out safe on the other side of a storm. And that is where God is leading us if we are ready to embrace his peace. That doesn’t mean we won’t have storms to go through in the meantime. I have heard that the best lumber for furniture is found up in the cold mountains where the winds constantly blow, and the storms frequently come. Likewise, some of the most established people that I have met are those who have been exposed to the storms of life.
We can have confidence that God will lead us through the storm so that we come out victorious on the other side because someday these storms will be over. On the other side of the storm you will realize that God was more than enough. He is all sufficient. Are you looking forward to that day? It’s o.k. to begin the celebration.
