Today's Readings: New Testament -
Mark 14:32-42
Revelation 14
Old Testament -
Job 36:16-33
Nahum 1-3
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Focus Verses: Nahum 1:3,14
3 The LORD is slow to anger and 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. - - -14 The LORD has given a command concerning you, Nineveh : "You will have no descendants to bear your name. I will destroy the carved images and cast idols that are in the temple of your gods. I will prepare your grave, for you are vile."
Insight:
When Jonah went to Ninevah and announced God's judgment, the people of Ninevah repented and were spared. Their repentance was short-lived, however. King Sennacherib made Ninevah the capital city of Assyria around 700 B.C., and so Nahum's prophecy against Ninevah can be seen as a message against the Assyrian empire which was infamous for its military brutality and political pride.
By the time of Nahum, Assyria had destroyed and scattered the ten tribes Israel's northern kingdom. King Sennacherib had threatened Jerusalem and the southern kingdom during the time of Hezekiah, but God had saved them. Now Nahum declared God's judgment against Ninevah-Assryia. Though God had been slow to anger in the past, he would hold back no longer. Their destruction was sure and complete.
Response and Action:
The Lord is slow to anger. God extends mercy and grace to all who will humble themselves and turn to him. True repentance, however, is a change of life. It is demonstrated in a lifetime, not just a day. Real humility is demonstrated through an ongoing obedience and surrender to God, not just a short-term adjustment to avoid punishment. Those who truly turn away from sin are those who seek the Lord with all their hearts. A true change of heart produces a changed life. I have turned to God and I will not turn back.
O God, thank you for your grace and mercy, for being slow to anger, and for being ready to save those who repent and humbly turn to you. Help me to live out my repentance every day. Teach me to walk in your ways. Give me a heart that delights in your will. Make me ready to follow Jesus and to demonstrate my love through obedience. Give me the wisdom to understand salvation as a way of life. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
Spiritual Formation Verses: Hebrews 10:26-27
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
Resources:
Why Sin Matters: The Surprising Relationship between Our Sin and God's Grace
by Mark R. McMinn
