A Strong Hold 4/1-5

01-05 April 2016 - A Strong Hold – Card Verse by Dorothy Callies

Nahum 1:7 “The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him.” NLT: “The Lord is good. When trouble comes, He is a strong refuge. And He knows everyone who trusts in Him.”

I like the Amplified Bible translate to this: “The Lord is good, a Strength and Stronghold in the day of trouble: He knows (recognizes, has knowledge of, and understands) those who take refuge and trust in Him.”

This verse inspired me and I decided to study about Nahum.  Nahum wrote a very short book yet important enough to be one of the 39 Old Testaments books.  Nahum received a message and a vision from the Lord concerning Nineveh. The point of this devotion is to get to know the very nature of God and His judgment against Nineveh. 

Nahum, like Jonah, was a prophet to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, and Nahum prophesied between 663 and 612 B.C.  A century (100 years) earlier (763 B.C), Jonah had been sent to preach to Assyria’s capital city of Nineveh.  For a short time, Assyrians repented of their sins, but sometimes later the city had fallen back into wickedness of idolatry, cruelty, and oppression.

So Nahum proclaimed God’s anger against Assyria’s evil. God explained in His Word why He was bringing judgment against them. God said, “I am against you” (Nahum 2:13). Assyrians were known in the ancient world for their extreme cruelty to people whom they conquered.  After attacking a city, they would ruthlessly slaughter hundreds of people and deport (force them to leave their country) the remaining population to other parts of their empire. Many more would die as a result of the brutal (cruel) marches into exile (3:3). Leaders of conquered cities and nations were tortured without mercy and finally executed.  

Not only were the Assyrians brutally cruel, but they were also extremely immoral. In the city of Nineveh appeared attractive, but inwardly the city was full of cult prostitution. The city was also given over to witchcraft, black magic, and spiritism; demons and evil spirits controlled the lives of the people.

Eventually, Nineveh would be destroyed and never again rebuilt. After the city fell in 612 B.C., it became a wilderness area for animals and birds. Nineveh was so completely wiped out that its ruin were not identified until 1845. How was the city wiped out? Nahum 2:6 explained about the flood gates or dams that controlled the Khoser River, and the attackers destroyed the dams and the river ran through the city and damaged the walls of the city.

Now let us focus on God’s nature concerning Nineveh. Nahum 3:1 tells us that God is slow to get angry, but when He is ready to punish, even the earth trembles. Often people avoid God because they see evildoers in the world and hypocrites in the church. They don’t realize that because God is slow to anger, He gives His true followers time to share His love and truth with evildoers. But judgment will come; God will not allow sin to go unchecked forever. 

When people wonder why God doesn’t punish evil immediately, help them remember that if He did, none of us would be here.  We can all be thankful that God gives people time to turn to Him. To people who refuse to believe, God’s punishment is like an angry fire.  To those who love Him, His mercy is a refuge, supplying all their needs without diminishing (reduce) His supply.  (Some notes came from commentaries).

Dorothy: You might wonder… why am I writing so much details about the city of Nineveh and the Assyrians? I watched TV and Rented tapes and I have seen such cruelty in wars in another country. I questioned “how long will God allowed this to go on?” So many things going on that doesn’t seem quite “fair” and nothing was done about it to resolve the problems all over USA and all of us.  I pondered …

Until I read about Nahum and studied the commentaries that I shared with you … I realized the nature of God is that He is slow to get angry … When God punish, His punishment is like an angry fire … even the earth trembles.  Then I realized … God knows what He is doing … I felt the change inside of me … the fear of God … meaning the Holy Spirit developed so much more greater respect for God.  I came to love God so much more.  I want to be close to Him because He has so much love to give. He gave us time to love Him back.

Inspiration singing

My heart is filled with singing Lord to Thee,

O mighty God! How great thou art!

My heart is filled with singing Lord to Thee,

O mighty God! Great is Thy love!

Prayer: O mighty God, our Father, Abba … forgive us for being so impatient. Thank You, Father for being such a wonderful God who is slow to get angry. You sent Jesus to earth to show Your love to us. Thank You for Jesus took our punishment on the cross and we are covered with the blood of Jesus. Thank You for the devotion that helped me to see who You really are. It makes me want to be close to You. In Jesus’ name, amen!