he will get it done

Posted on March 31, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250331

Photo by Ithalu Dominguez on Pexels.com

he will get it done

Ezra 1:1-11

Ezra 1:1 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, to fulfill the word of Yahveh spoken through Jeremiah, Yahveh roused the breath of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing:
Ezra 1:2 King Cyrus of Persia says: ” Yahveh, the God of the sky , has given me all the kingdoms of the land and has appointed me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah.
Ezra 1:3 If any of his people are among you, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of Yahveh, the God of Israel, who is in Jerusalem.
Ezra 1:4 Let every survivor, wherever he resides, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with a donation for the house of God in Jerusalem.”
Ezra 1:5 So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose breath God had roused—prepared to rebuild Yahveh’s house in Jerusalem.
Ezra 1:6 All their neighbors supported them with silver articles, gold, goods, livestock, valuables, and all that was given as a donation.
Ezra 1:7 King Cyrus also brought out the articles of Yahveh’s house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the house of his gods.
Ezra 1:8 King Cyrus of Persia had them brought out under Mithredath’s treasurer’s supervision, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.
Ezra 1:9 This was the inventory: 30 gold basins, 1,000 silver basins, 29 silver knives,
Ezra 1:10 30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls, and 1,000 other articles.
Ezra 1:11 The gold and silver articles totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought all of them when the exiles went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

he will get it done

People attribute Cyrus’ decision to restore the holy cities beyond the Tigris river to good royal strategy – and it was. But the writer of Ezra recognizes that the mastermind behind that good royal strategy is the LORD. He intends to fulfill his promise to restore his city, and return his people. He uses king Cyrus to begin that restoration. At stake is more than a ruined city. At stake is the glory of the LORD. When God wants to do something, he will get it done. If it takes turning the heart of a pagan king, that’s what he will do. Pray for God to do something, and do not be surprised if he moves your heart to get it done.

LORD, make a difference in our community, and use us if you wish.

Posted in Cyrus, prayer, providence | Tagged | Leave a comment

He intends to save

Posted on March 30, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250330

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

He intends to save

Zephaniah 3:9-20

Zephaniah 3:9 For I will then restore pure speech to the peoples so that all of them may call on the name of Yahveh and serve him with a single purpose.
Zephaniah 3:10 From beyond the rivers of Cush my supplicants, my dispersed people, will bring an offering to me.
Zephaniah 3:11 On that day you will not be put to shame because of everything you have done in rebelling against me. For then I will remove from among you your jubilant, arrogant people, and you will never again be haughty on my holy mountain.
Zephaniah 3:12 I will leave a meek and humble people among you, and they will take refuge in the name of Yahveh.
Zephaniah 3:13 The remnant of Israel will no longer do wrong or tell lies; a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths. They will pasture and lie down, with nothing to make them afraid.
Zephaniah 3:14 Sing for joy, Daughter Zion; shout loudly, Israel! Be glad and celebrate with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem!
Zephaniah 3:15 The Lord has removed your punishment; he has turned back your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahveh, is among you; you need no longer fear harm.
Zephaniah 3:16 On that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not fear; Zion, do not let your hands grow weak.
Zephaniah 3:17 Yahveh your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will shriek ecstatically over you with gladness. He will be quiet in his love. He will delight in you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:18 I will gather those who have been driven from the appointed festivals; they will be a tribute from you and a reproach on her.
Zephaniah 3:19 Notice, I will deal with all who oppress you at that time. I will save the lame and gather the outcasts and make those disgraced throughout the land receive praise and fame.
Zephaniah 3:20 At that time, I will bring you back; yes, at the time, I will gather you. I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the land when I restore your fortunes before your eyes. Yahveh has spoken.

He intends to save

The LORD intends to save his people, and he also intends to change the hearts, minds and tongues of the nations. We can rejoice now, because he will rejoice then. His heart is for the whole planet.

LORD, teach us how to cooperate with you in your plan to bring the world to yourself.

Posted in church, missions, Zephaniah | Tagged | Leave a comment

two assemblies

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250329

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

two assemblies

Zephaniah 3:1-8

Zephaniah 3:1 Woe to the city that is rebellious and defiled, the oppressive city!
Zephaniah 3:2 She has not obeyed; she has not accepted discipline. She has not trusted in Yahveh; she has not drawn near to her God.
Zephaniah 3:3 The princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are wolves of the night, which leave nothing for the morning.
Zephaniah 3:4 Her prophets are reckless– treacherous men. Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to instruction.
Zephaniah 3:5 The righteous Yahveh is in her; he does no wrong. He applies his justice morning by morning; he does not fail at dawn, yet the one who does wrong knows no shame.
Zephaniah 3:6 I have cut off nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have laid waste their streets, with no one to pass through. Their cities lie devastated, without a person, without someone to live there.
Zephaniah 3:7 I thought: You will certainly fear me and accept correction. Then her dwelling place would not be cut off based on all that I had allocated to her. However, they became more corrupt in all their actions.
Zephaniah 3:8 Therefore, wait for me – this is Yahveh’s declaration – until the day I rise up for plunder. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, in order to pour out my indignation on them, all my burning anger; for the whole land will be consumed by the fire of my jealousy.

two assemblies

Nation after nation was destroyed by God’s judgment, yet the peoples continued to walk in corruption, never fearing his great wrath. Therefore he made a decision. He will gather all the nations and assemble all the kingdoms for one great day of judgment. On that day he will pour out his anger, and they will all be consumed.

Fortunately, the prophets also teach that God is gathering a people to himself from among the nations, and assembling them from among the kingdoms. Which assembly are you in?

LORD, we accept your grace, and the atoning death of Christ. Gather us to your assembly for life, not death.

Posted in church, destruction in hell, judgment | Tagged | Leave a comment

desolate places

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250328

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

desolate places

Zephaniah 2:4-15

Zephaniah 2:4 For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon will become a sinister desolation. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.
Zephaniah 2:5 Woe, you who live on the seacoast, nation of the Cherethites! The word of Yahveh is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines: I will destroy you until there is no one left.
Zephaniah 2:6 The seacoast will become pasturelands with caves for shepherds and pens for sheep.
Zephaniah 2:7 The coastland will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; they will find pasture there. They will lie down in the evening among the houses of Ashkelon, for Yahveh their God will return to them and restore their fortunes.
Zephaniah 2:8 I have heard the taunting of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted my people and threatened their territory.
Zephaniah 2:9 Therefore, as I live – this is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies, the God of Israel – Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah: a place overgrown with weeds, a salt pit, and a permanent sinister desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them; the remainder of my nation will dispossess them.
Zephaniah 2:10 This is what they get for their pride, because they have taunted and acted arrogantly against the people of Yahveh of Armies.
Zephaniah 2:11 Yahveh will be terrifying to them when he starves all the gods of the land. Then all the distant coasts and islands of the nations will bow in worship to him, each in its own place.
Zephaniah 2:12 You Cushites will also be slain by my sword.
Zephaniah 2:13 He will also stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria; he will make Nineveh a sinister desolation, dry as the open country.
Zephaniah 2:14 Herds will lie down in the middle of it, every kind of wild animal. Both eagle owls and herons will roost in the capitals of its pillars. Their calls will sound from the window, but devastation will be on the threshold, for he will expose the cedar work.
Zephaniah 2:15 This is the jubilant city that lives in security, that thinks to herself: I exist, and there is no one else. What a desolation she has become, a place for wild animals to lie down! Everyone who passes by her scoffs and shakes his fist.

desolate places

How do you starve a god? You take away the people who worship him. That is what the LORD promises to do to all the false gods which the inhabitants of the nations worship. Instead, to the LORD they will bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations. The judgment will result in desolate places, and those who are left will not cling to their idols. They will seek the one true God.

LORD, make us wise enough not to wait until all the other contestants are eliminated. May we seek you now.

Posted in destruction in hell, idolatry, judgment | Tagged | Leave a comment

perhaps you will be concealed

Posted on March 27, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250327

Photo by Rafael Barros on Pexels.com

perhaps you will be concealed

Zephaniah 1:1-2:3

Zephaniah 1:1 The word of Yahveh that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.
Zephaniah 1:2 I will thoroughly sweep away everything from the face of the land—this is Yahveh’s declaration.
Zephaniah 1:3 I will sweep away people and animals, the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and the ruins along with the wicked. I will cut off mankind from the face of the land. This is Yahveh’s declaration.
Zephaniah 1:4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the ones who live of Jerusalem. I will cut off every vestige of Baal from this place, the names of the pagan priests along with the priests;
Zephaniah 1:5 those who bow in worship on the rooftops to the stars in the sky; those who bow and pledge loyalty to Yahveh but also pledge loyalty to Milcom;
Zephaniah 1:6 and those who turn back from following Yahveh, who do not seek Yahveh or inquire of him.
Zephaniah 1:7 Be silent in the presence of the Lord Yahveh, for the day of Yahveh is near. Indeed, Yahveh has prepared a sacrifice; he has committed his guests.
Zephaniah 1:8 On the day of Yahveh’s sacrifice I will punish the officials, the king’s sons, and all who are dressed in foreign clothing.
Zephaniah 1:9 On that day, I will punish all who skip over the threshold and fill their master’s house with violence and deceit.
Zephaniah 1:10 On that day — this is Yahveh’s declaration — there will be an outcry from the Fish Gate, a wailing from the Second District, and a loud crashing from the hills.
Zephaniah 1:11 Yell, you who live in the Hollow, for all the merchants will be silenced; all those loaded with silver will be cut off.
Zephaniah 1:12 And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who settle down comfortably, who say to themselves: Yahveh will not do good or evil.
Zephaniah 1:13 Their wealth will become plunder and their houses a sinister desolation. They will build houses but never live in them, plant vineyards but never drink their wine.
Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of Yahveh is near, near and rapidly approaching. Listen, the day of Yahveh– then the warrior’s cry is bitter.
Zephaniah 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and total darkness,
Zephaniah 1:16 a day of ram’s horn bugle blast and battle cry against the fortified cities, and against the high corner towers.
Zephaniah 1:17 I will bring distress on mankind, and they will walk like the blind because they have sinned against Yahveh. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.
Zephaniah 1:18 Their silver and their gold will be unable to rescue them on the day of Yahveh’s wrath. The whole land will be consumed by the fire of his jealousy, for he will make a complete, yes, a horrifying end of all those who live in the land.
Zephaniah 2:1 Gather yourselves together; gather together, undesirable nation,
Zephaniah 2:2 before the decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning of Yahveh’s anger overtakes you, before the day of Yahveh’s anger overtakes you.
Zephaniah 2:3 Seek Yahveh, all you humble of the land, who carry out what he commands. Seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you will be concealed on the day of Yahveh’s anger.

perhaps you will be concealed

Judgment is going to take place. There is no doubt about that. But God’s people are challenged to gather and seek him and his righteousness in humility. Perhaps they will be spared on that great and terrible day of the LORD.

LORD, we seek your kingdom and your righteousness. Hide us from your terrible wrath.

Posted in destruction in hell, judgment, wrath of God | Tagged | Leave a comment

wrong time

Posted on March 26, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250326

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

wrong time

Habakkuk 3:1-19 (JDV)

Habakkuk 3:1 A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk. According to Shigionoth.
Habakkuk 3:2 Yahveh, I have heard the report about you; Yahveh, I stand in awe of your deeds. Revive your work in these years; make it known in these years. In your wrath remember mercy!
Habakkuk 3:3 God comes from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His splendor covers the sky and the land is full of his praise.
Habakkuk 3:4 His brilliance is like light; rays are flashing from his hand. This is where his power is hidden.
Habakkuk 3:5 Plague goes before him, and pestilence follows in his steps.
Habakkuk 3:6 He stands and shakes the land; he looks and startles the nations. The “continual” mountains break apart; the “permanent” hills sink down. His pathways are permanent.
Habakkuk 3:7 I see the tents of Cushan in distress; the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble.
Habakkuk 3:8 Are you angry at the rivers, Yahveh? Is your wrath against the rivers? Or is your rage against the sea when you ride on your horses, your victorious chariot?
Habakkuk 3:9 You took the sheath from your bow; the arrows are ready to be used with an oath. Selah. You split the land with rivers.
Habakkuk 3:10 The mountains see you and convulse; a downpour of water sweeps by. The deep roars with its voice and lifts its waves high.
Habakkuk 3:11 Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence, at the flash of your flying arrows, at the brightness of your shining spear.
Habakkuk 3:12 You march across the land with indignation; you trample down the nations in wrath.
Habakkuk 3:13 You come out to save your people, to save your anointed. You crush the leader of the house of the wicked and strip him from foot to neck. Selah.
Habakkuk 3:14 You pierce his head with his own spears; his warriors storm out to scatter us, gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak.
Habakkuk 3:15 You tread the sea with your horses, stirring up the vast water.
Habakkuk 3:16 I heard, and I trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Rottenness entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress to come against the people invading us.
Habakkuk 3:17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the flocks disappear from the pen and there are no herds in the stalls,
Habakkuk 3:18 yet I will celebrate in the Yahveh; I will shriek ecstatically in the God of my salvation!
Habakkuk 3:19 The Lord Yahveh is my strength; he makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights! For the choir director: on stringed instruments.

wrong time

The prophet finds himself and his people at the wrong time. He wants to be at the brink of deliverance, but he has arrived at the brink of judgment – on his own people. What does a believer do? Some choose to bury their head in the sand and not think about reality, hoping it will just go away. Habakkuk chooses to do two almost contradictory things. He chooses to quietly wait for deliverance, while continuing to rejoice in the LORD.

LORD, when it’s the wrong time for deliverance, give us the wisdom to rejoice in who you are.

Posted in patience, prayer, trust | Tagged | Leave a comment

confidence in the LORD

Posted on March 25, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250325

Photo by Tim Gouw on Pexels.com

confidence in the LORD

Habakkuk 1:12-2:20 (JDV)

Habakkuk 1:12 Are you not from antiquity, Yahveh my God? My Holy One, you will not die. Yahveh, you appointed them to execute judgment; my Rock, you destined them to punish us.
Habakkuk 1:13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do you tolerate those who are treacherous? Why are you silent while one who is wicked swallows up one who is more righteous than himself?
Habakkuk 1:14 You have made Adam like the fish of the sea, like marine creatures that have no ruler.
Habakkuk 1:15 The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook, catch them in their dragnet, and gather them in their fishing net; that is why they are glad and shriek ecstatically.
Habakkuk 1:16 That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet and burn incense to their fishing net, because by these things their portion is rich and their food plentiful.
Habakkuk 1:17 Will they therefore empty their net and continually slaughter nations without mercy?
Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the lookout tower. I will watch to see what he will say to me and what I should reply about my complaint.
Habakkuk 2:2 Yahveh answered me: Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it.
Habakkuk 2:3 Because the vision is yet for the appointed time; it testifies about the end and will not lie. Though it is delayed, wait for it, since it will certainly come and not be late.
Habakkuk 2:4 Notice, his throat is swollen; he is without integrity. But the righteous one will live by his faith.
Habakkuk 2:5 Moreover, wine betrays; an arrogant man is never at rest. He enlarges his throat like Sheol, and like Death he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself; he collects all the peoples for himself.
Habakkuk 2:6 Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him, with mockery and riddles about him? They will say: Woe to him who amasses what is not his– how much longer? — and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.
Habakkuk 2:7 Won’t your creditors suddenly arise, and those who disturb you wake up? Then you will become prey to them.
Habakkuk 2:8 Since you have plundered many nations, all the peoples who remain will plunder you — because of human bloodshed and violence against land, city, and all who live in it.
Habakkuk 2:9 Woe to him who dishonestly makes wealth for his house to place his nest on high, to escape the grasp of disaster!
Habakkuk 2:10 You have planned shame for your house by wiping out many peoples and failing your own throat.
Habakkuk 2:11 For the stones will cry out from the wall, and the rafters will answer them from the woodwork.
Habakkuk 2:12 Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with injustice!
Habakkuk 2:13 Is it not noticed by the Yahveh of Armies that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?
Habakkuk 2:14 For the land will be filled with the knowledge of the Yahveh’s glory, as the water covers the sea.
Habakkuk 2:15 Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink, pouring out your wrath and even making them drunk, in order to look at their nakedness!
Habakkuk 2:16 You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory. You also – drink and expose your uncircumcision! The cup in the Yahveh’s right hand will come around to you, and utter disgrace will cover your glory.
Habakkuk 2:17 For your violence against Lebanon will overwhelm you; the robbery of animals will terrify you because of your human bloodshed and violence against land, city, and all who live in it.
Habakkuk 2:18 What use is a carved idol after its craftsman carves it? It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies. For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it and makes idols that cannot speak.
Habakkuk 2:19 Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up! or to mute stone: Come alive! Can it teach? Notice! It may be plated with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.
Habakkuk 2:20 But the Yahveh is in his holy temple; let the whole land be silent in his presence.

confidence in the LORD

Habakkuk’s second complaint is that the LORD is overlooking the evil of Babylon as he metes out judgment through them. The answer is an oracle against Babylon which will be fulfilled in due time. Meanwhile, how does a righteous person live in a time when his own people are being judged for their sin? God’s righteous person lives by faith — confidence in the LORD regardless of the circumstances.

LORD, make us examples of your kind of person – the righteous who live by faith.

Posted in confidence, faith, patience | Tagged , | Leave a comment

his solution

Posted on March 24, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250324

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

his solution

Habakkuk 1:1-11 (JDV)

Habakkuk 1:1 The pronouncement of what the prophet Habakkuk saw.
Habakkuk 1:2 How long, Yahveh, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save?
Habakkuk 1:3 Why do you force me to see injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Robbery and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
Habakkuk 1:4 This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.
Habakkuk 1:5 Look at the nations and observe — be utterly astounded! For I am doing something in your days that you will not believe when you hear about it.
Habakkuk 1:6 Notice! I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter, impetuous nation that marches across the land’s open spaces to seize territories not its own.
Habakkuk 1:7 They are fierce and terrifying; their views of justice and sovereignty stem from themselves.
Habakkuk 1:8 Their horses are swifter than leopards and fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead; their horsemen come from distant lands. They fly like eagles, swooping to devour.
Habakkuk 1:9 All of them come to do violence; their faces are set in determination. They gather prisoners like sand.
Habakkuk 1:10 They mock kings, and rulers are a joke to them. They laugh at every fortress and build siege ramps to capture it.
Habakkuk 1:11 Then they sweep by like the wind and pass through. They bear guilt; their strength is their god.

his solution

Habakkuk begins with a complaint from the author to God, and God’s response was totally not what was expected. It is like Habakkuk had put in an emergency phone call, and the reply was, “OK, I’ll send you an enemy army!” Wrong number? No, the prophet is learning to trust God to do what needs to be done his way. His ways are not our ways.

LORD, teach us to pray prayers which seek your solution to our problems, not to dictate to you what you must do. May your kingdom come, not ours.

Posted in prayer, will of God | Tagged | Leave a comment

stay in the truth

Posted on March 23, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250323

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

stay in the truth

2 John (JDV)

2 John 1:1 The elder: To the chosen lady and her children, whom I care about in the truth — and not only I, but also all who know the truth —
2 John 1:2 because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us permanently.
2 John 1:3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and care.
2 John 1:4 I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, in keeping with a command we have received from the Father.
2 John 1:5 So now I ask you, dear lady — not as if I were writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning — that we care about one another.
2 John 1:6 This is care: that we walk according to his commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: that you walk in it.
2 John 1:7 Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
2 John 1:8 Watch yourselves so you don’t lose what we have worked for, but that you may receive a full reward.
2 John 1:9 Anyone who does not remain in Christ’s teaching but goes beyond it does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son.
2 John 1:10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not welcome him into your home, and don’t greet him;
2 John 1:11 because the one who greets him shares in his evil works.
2 John 1:12 Though I have many things to write to you, I don’t want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that our joy may be complete.
2 John 1:13 The children of your chosen sister send you greetings.

stay in the truth

John’s second letter was to a church group. Although he addressed it to “the elect lady and her children” all of the commands in it are plural, which suggests he had the group in mind — probably with a female leader.

He encouraged them to stay in the truth they know, and not to be eager to “go beyond it” (9). It is tempting to always be looking for some new teaching, but those who do so are in danger of wandering away from the simple message of grace in the gospel.

John warned the believers not to even receive those with “new” teachings into their homes. That would be taking part in a deceiver’s “evil works” (11).

LORD, help us to stay in the truth, and so avoid being lured away from it by “new” teachings.

Posted in church, commitment, grace, heresies, truth | Tagged | Leave a comment

Nahum’s Nineveh

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250322

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

Nahum’s Nineveh

Nahum 3:5-19 (JDV)

Nahum 3:5 Watch, I am against you. This is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies. I will lift your skirts over your face and display your nakedness to nations, your shame to kingdoms.
Nahum 3:6 I will throw filth on you and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you.
Nahum 3:7 Then all who see you will recoil from you, saying, “Nineveh is devastated; who will show sympathy to her?” Where can I find anyone to comfort you?
Nahum 3:8 Are you better than Thebes that sat along the Nile with water surrounding her, whose rampart was the sea, the river her wall?
Nahum 3:9 Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength; Put and Libya were among her allies.
Nahum 3:10 Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her children were also dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains.
Nahum 3:11 You also will become drunk; you will hide. You also will seek refuge from the enemy.
Nahum 3:12 All your fortresses are fig trees with figs that ripened first; when shaken, they fall — right into the mouth of the eater!
Nahum 3:13 Watch, your troops are like women among you; your land’s city gates are wide open to your enemies. Fire will devour the bars of your gates.
Nahum 3:14 Draw water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Step into the clay and tread the mortar; take hold of the brick-mold!
Nahum 3:15 The fire will devour you there; the sword will cut you down. It will devour you like the crawling stage locust. Multiply yourselves like the young locust; multiply like the winging stage locust!
Nahum 3:16 You have made your merchants more numerous than the stars of the sky. The crawling stage locust strips the land and leaves it dark.
Nahum 3:17 Your court officials are like the winging stage locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts, which settle on the walls on a cold day; when the sun rises, they take off, and no one knows where they are.
Nahum 3:18 King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered across the mountains with no one to gather them together.
Nahum 3:19 There is no remedy for your fracture; your injury is severe. All who hear the news about you will clap their hands because of you, because who has not experienced your constant cruelty?

Nahum’s Nineveh

Shame, fear and destruction will come to Nineveh: the same shame, fear and destruction that she has meted out to her neighbor nations. Why should the God of Israel waste time sending this message from his prophet? He cares about Nineveh, and showed that care by sending Jonah. But this time, there appears to have been no repentance. Nineveh got hers. How many times has the LORD sent his word to us, pleading for us to repent? We cannot escape Jesus Christ. He will either be our Savior or our judge.

LORD, renew our minds, so that we respond to your word. May we be like Jonah’s Nineveh, not like Nahum’s Nineveh.

Posted in destruction in hell, judgment, repentance | Leave a comment