Nahum chapter 1

Well, following on from Micah which I really enjoyed, comes Nahum. To be honest, I found this a really depressing book, full of doom and gloom, and it was a struggle to find positive things to say.

Nahum was a prophet who lived probably just before the destruction of the Assyrian Empire, so sometime before 722 BC then. Like Habakkuk, he prophesied the destruction of Nineveh, where the people had previously repented after hearing from Jonah some 100 or more years earlier.
Jonah had tried to avoid doing a job God had set him, and ended up being swallowed by a giant fish. However, he was coughed up onto dry land, he then went to Nineveh to warn the Assyrians of the punishment of God. They listened to what he had to say and they repented, turned from their sins so God did not destroy the people or the city.

But now, it is a different generation (maybe 2 or more generations later) and the people have once more fallen into sin. It is not so much that it is the odd sin here and there, the little white lie, the touch of gossip, a modicum of pride (but even those will separate us from God), but it is a way of life, something they do automatically without even thinking about it. But God has not punished them straight away, as soon as they stopped heeding the words of Jonah and fell back into their old ways. It has been a 100 years and more, but the time has now come for more warnings for Nineveh, more prophecies of impending disaster, the wrath of God about to fall on them.

That's what I love, the fact that God waits. He doesn't automatically punish someone as soon as they mess up but he waits and gives them chance to turn themselves around, to draw back to Him. It means that there is hope for all those whom I know do not yet believe - for my children, my parents, husband, friends, for all those people in the world who are choosing to go their own way and to ignore the fact that the chances of there not being a God are less than 1 in 10 t the power 40,000 (I wish I knew how to type that in Blogger....). So whilst this is a chapter full of doom and gloom, all the more so because the Assyrian Empire did come to an end and is no more, it holds great promise. The promise of a messenger coming from over the mountain with good news, bringing a message of peace. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the message of salvation, of hope for this troubled world, and God is not willing that any should be destroyed.