The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
SPEAKER 02 :
A Bible teacher from 100 years ago said, America is going downhill with a godly ancestry. And then he added, God pity America when we reach the bottom of the hill. Well, over 35 years ago, our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, added, All I can say is that it seems to me like we’re getting very close to the bottom of that hill. So where does that leave us? Well, welcome to Through the Bible. I’m your host, Steve Schwetz, and we’re making our way through the first chapter of the Old Testament book of Nahum, where we’re going to learn that God is patient and he’s slow to anger. In fact, when God punishes countries and evildoers, it really is out of love. To understand that statement a bit better, let’s listen to an introduction by Dr. McGee.
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several of these criminals that had been let out of prison by some soft-hearted and soft-headed judge and turned him loose on the street. And in less than 24 hours, one of them here on the West Coast had committed murder and almost destroyed a family. And I say to you, wouldn’t it have been better For that man to have been judged and given the death penalty, put in death row and executed, and to have the family today walking around, living a normal life, now they’ve been destroyed. You see that sometimes we do not exercise, as the scripture says, love with judgment. That is what Paul told the Philippians. He says, you display your love in judgment and in wisdom. You are not to display it upon those that are totally unworthy. And where it will do absolutely no good. And certainly that’s been the condition of many of these that we have turned loose today in our society. So maybe these little books have a message to give to us today that may help us out of this condition of sloppy agape that we’ve gotten into. God does judge. And we must recognize that. He’s a God of love, but he’s a God also of righteousness, and he does that which is right.
SPEAKER 02 :
Grab your Bible and turn to Nahum chapter 1. And while you do, here are a couple of letters from the Bible bus. First, we hear from Geraldine who says, I am 78 and not in good health. But my husband and I used to listen to you on a local radio station when we were married in 1961. I’m grateful for your online teaching, which I access thanks to my children teaching me how. I love receiving the World Prayer Team emails. Each day I pray for the country that you are reaching. Well, thanks for your prayer support, Geraldine. And I’ll be sure to save you and your husband seats on the Bible bus every day. Here’s a letter. This is from a fellow listener named Bertrand. I just finished the entire series on Job. All this while I’ve been fearful of this particular book of the Bible. I can never really get the main point. Many say it’s about the question, why do the righteous suffer? However, through this study, I finally understand that it’s about repentance. We can never justify ourselves to God. It is only in Jesus Christ that one is justified. I’m so thankful for this study and this ministry. I’m also very encouraged by the testimonies read at the beginning of every program. All glory to God. Well, thanks Bertrand for sharing and for your learning on the Bible bus and by extension encouraging us. Now, what’s your story? What’s God teaching you as we travel through His Word together? You know we’d love to hear from you, so you can drop us a note using the feedback tool in our app, email us at biblebus.ttb.org, or write to Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. You can also leave us a voice message anytime at 1-800-65-BIBLE. We certainly love receiving those, too. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, reveal to us the glory of your righteousness, your goodness, and your judgment as we spend time in your word. Open our eyes to the wonderful truths that we hear and help us to apply them to our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Now turn to Nahum chapter 1 as we go through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
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Now friends, we’re in this rather remarkable book. And I’m going to break my pattern of saying we’ve come to the greatest book in the Bible. I’ve said that about everyone. But I’ll break the pattern here and say that this is not the greatest book. But it’s a great book, let me say that. And it has a real message for us. It gives the burden of Nineveh. And that burden, as we’ve seen before, means judgment. We saw that in Isaiah, the judgment of Nineveh, and the book of the vision of Nahum, the Elkishite. And we discussed that last time. We can’t know too much about him, and yet we do know a great deal about this man. He was apparently born in the northern kingdom, That would be his native country. But he moved to the southern part of Judah sometime when he was very young. And he had a great concern for the northern kingdom. And he apparently was alive when it was carried away into captivity into Assyria. And his message is the judgment that’s coming on Nineveh. You see, this man Jonah brought a message to Nineveh that revealed the love of God. Well, this book reveals the justice of God. And the two go together. Though God will judge a nation, God is still love. And he’s still love. You can’t escape that. And the thing that makes the judgment of God actually so frightful is this, that God doesn’t do it as a petulant person. He doesn’t do it in a vindictive manner whatsoever. He doesn’t do it in a spirit of revenge or trying to get even or because he got angry for a moment and it’s an emotional outburst. God judges because he’s just and he still loves, but he is just. And since he’s just in his dealings, he has to deal with sin, even in the lives of those that he loves. And Nineveh was a city that God loved. He told Jonah that. Jonah wanted the city destroyed. And God says, shall I not save Nineveh, that great city? And the People that were in it, many of them little children. But now, friends, judgment is going to fall upon this great city. And the message is this. And I want to give you what I have now in my notes. And I’m reading from my notes. Nahum sounds the death knell of Nineveh and pronounces judgment by total destruction on Assyria. God was just in doing this. Jonah, almost a century before, in fact, the matter is was probably a century and a half, had brought a message from God, and Nineveh had repented. However, the repentance was transitory, and God patiently gave this new generation opportunity to repent. We’re going to see that in the message today. And the day of grace ends and the moment of doom comes. That is something that you find over in the third chapter, verse 19. That’s the last verse. He says, “…there is no healing of thy bruise, thy wound is grievous.” All that hear the report of thee shall clap the hands over thee, for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually. In other words, they had come to a place where there’s no healing for them. Now, I believe that for a nation and for an individual, that it is possible to continue in sin And to keep on continuing in sin, and you cross over a mark. And I don’t know where it is. I don’t pretend to be able to say when it takes place. But there is a place. And when you pass over that, it’s not that the grace of God can’t reach you, but you can’t reach God. For the simple reason that you pass to the place where you are hardened, And you are in a state of unbelief that cannot be changed. And that is true of a nation. It’s true of an individual. Now, Assyria had served God’s purpose and would be destroyed. You see, as you look about you today, you’re apt to be disturbed. There’s no question about that. God’s people, I’m sure, are disturbed. And the reason, I think, for that… interests that we’ve had in prophecy. And the wilder the prophecy teachers are, the more popular they seem to be today. And we’ve got them coming up with all kinds of interpretations. Well, the explanation is God’s people, ignorant of the Word of God, they’re desperately reaching out because of the things that are happening. The Lord himself said men’s hearts will be failing them when they see those things coming on the earth. Well, we’re at that stage for sure. We’ve come into that particular orbit today, and these things are disturbing to us. But my friend, let’s understand that God is still running the thing. He’s still in charge. It hasn’t slipped out from his hands. God is not biting his fingernails, and he hasn’t slipped to the edge of his throne. He’s not nervous today about what’s happening. God is carrying out his plan and purpose, and he’s overruling the sin of man. That makes it very comforting, by the way, should be to the child of God today. Now, Assyria had served God’s purpose and would be destroyed. And the destruction of Nineveh, according to the details which are given in this written prophecy, is almost breathtaking. This is a message, you see, of comfort to a people who live in fear of a powerful and godless nation. God will destroy any godless nation. All you have to do is to pick up your history book and you go back and begin with the time of the writing of history. And you will find out that every great world power went down. And it went down at a time when they were given over to wine, women, and song. When they reach that place, then you can be sure of one thing, they’re on the skid. And they’ll soon pass out into the limbo of the loss. And that’s where the great nations of the world are today. And where are we? Well, as we said last time, we’re on the way down. It’s a nice ride while we’re having it. Dr. Machen said years ago, America… is today going downhill with a godly ancestry. America that has had a godly ancestry is going downhill on the toboggan. And he says, God pity America when we reach the bottom of the hill. Well, how close are we to the bottom of the hill? That’s the question. And I’m no prophet or the son of a prophet, just a poor preacher. And all I can say is, seems to me like we’re getting very close to the bottom of the hill. Now, that is the reason that this prophecy here is such a remarkable prophecy that we have, because it speaks right into our own local situation today. Now, again, may I say that we have in the first chapter, the first eight verses, we have justice and the goodness of God. Then from verse 9 through the rest of the chapter, verse 16, we have the justice and goodness of God demonstrated in the decision to destroy Nineveh and to give the gospel. Then in chapters 2 and 3, we have the justice and goodness of God exhibited in execution of his decision to destroy Nineveh. So that you have the annihilation of Assyria in chapter 2 and the avenging action of God justified in chapter 3. Now, with that in mind, let’s move again right through the first verse on down. The burden of Nineveh, the judgment of Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum, the Elkashite. Now, verse 2, God is jealous, and the Lord avengeth. The Lord avengeth and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemy. Now, Jealous means, according to Webster’s Dictionary, and this is the definition, exacting exclusive devotion. God is a jealous God. Now, God demands that his people worship him alone. And when any people, it doesn’t make any difference who they are, turn to idolatry. are turned to sin, that which is contrary to God, and give themselves to it. God is jealous. Now, I hear folks say today, well, it’s just a little bit different, the jealousy of God and the jealousy of man. Well, it’s not as much difference as you think there is. Let me just turn and read Exodus, the 20th chapter, verse 3 through 6. Will you listen to this? Thou shall have no other gods before me. Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image. or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. Visting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children under the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and showing mercy under thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Now, God loves you. It doesn’t make any difference who you are. You can’t keep him from loving you. You can get into a place where you won’t experience the love of God. When you put up an umbrella of sin, the sunshine of God’s love sure won’t fall on you. But it’s still there for you. And you can put up the umbrella of indifference. You can put up the umbrella of turning your back upon him and not doing his will. There are several umbrellas you can put up to keep the love of God from shining upon you. But you can’t keep him from loving you. God loves you. And since he loves you, he’s jealous of you. And that means that he wants you. God actually doesn’t want what you’ve got. Those of us that are preachers are always asking. I wish that on this radio program, I didn’t even have to mention it. I don’t like to. And we never ask the unsaved to give. And if God’s people would just give, you’d never hear me mention it. Just enough to pay for the radio. But God doesn’t want what you’ve got. He wants you. And he’s jealous when you give yourself and your time and your substance to other things. When you give it to sin, God is jealous. And it’s the same way I heard a woman once say, she says, you know, I have a very wonderful husband. He’s not jealous of me. Well, I don’t think he was such a wonderful husband. Well, maybe he didn’t have any cause to be jealous. However, the woman was not a bad looking woman by any means. But I don’t think that’s a compliment at all. We’re living in a day when people are to be broad minded, especially about this matter of sex. that it’s all right to give yourself to the first one that comes along. May I say to you, my friend, if you’re that type of a woman, you’ll never get a good husband, I’ll tell you that. Because the good husband is one that’s going to want you and love you and want you above everything else. And he won’t want to share you with anybody. When you say you don’t have a jealous husband, I feel sorry for you because you don’t have a good relationship. I can tell you that. And God, very frankly, says, I’m a jealous God. I want you. I don’t want to share you with the sin of the world and with the devil’s crowd and with idolatry. I don’t want to share you. I want you to belong to me. That is the thing. And there’s nothing wrong with God saying God’s jealous. That’s what Nahum says. God is jealous. I’m glad he is. And any good husband or any good wife, she says, I don’t want to share my husband with anybody else. He’s mine. He belongs to me. That’s something that’s pretty important today that this world’s forgotten about. No wonder in Southern California that now our divorces run ahead of our marriages, of course. We’re playing a little game. Of course, you used to find the harlots in the brothels, but it’s called consecutive harlotry today. You just take one at a time and live with him a little while at a time. It adds up, though, to the same thing because, my friend… If you’re going to be loved and if you love, there’ll be jealousy there. Has to be if it’s real. Now, God is jealous and the Lord avenge it. Now, it’s not revenge it as it is in our authorized version. It’s a venge, and there’s all the difference in the world. Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. God says to you and me, don’t you indulge in it, because to begin with, you will never exercise it in the right way. You turn it over to me. God says, I handle it without any heat of anger. I handle it in justice and I will do the right thing. And I know all the issues and the side issues and I know everything about it. Therefore, God says that he avenges and the Lord avenges. And friends, whether we like it or not, maybe you won’t like it today, anything God does is right. Now, when you and I get that fixed in our minds and then on the other end of the stick, that you and I are just little creatures and we really don’t know very much. Even the smartest ones don’t. Frankly, I hate to say this, but I’ve quit listening to newscasts and these programs where they interview some egghead that’s supposed to know something. I’ve discovered that most of these today, as far as knowing what’s really going on in this world, they’re really ignoramuses. And they’re just talking. May I say to you, you and I today ought to recognize that we don’t know much. And that God, whatever he does, whatever God does, it’s right. And you say, well, I don’t think so. Well, then you are wrong. God’s not wrong. You are wrong. I wonder if you’re willing to take that position. If you’re not, my friend, you’re in trouble as far as God is concerned. Because you know there are a lot of things he’s not going to tell you about. There are many things he’s not going to tell you or me. He’s just going to go ahead and do them. And he’s running this universe his way. Oh, I know that we get a few little power-hungry human beings, but they don’t hang around long. Hitler didn’t last long. Mussolini didn’t. Stalin didn’t. They didn’t last long. The others that are on the front page today, they’ll be in obituary notice in a few days. Won’t be long. May I say to you, friends, that God is still on the throne and he’s still running things. Now, will you notice? And it says, “…and he is furious.” God doesn’t take any delight today in the sin of man. God hates sin. He’s furious at it. The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. And God is glorified, as we have in the 38th and 39th of Ezekiel. God is glorified when he judges a nation, by the way. God is glorified. When Assyria went down, God is glorified. In that the brutal nation hated a sinful nation and God brought them down to wreck and to ruin and into the debris and dust of the earth. And God is glorified when he does things like that. Maybe you don’t like it, but the word of God says that’s the way that he moves. And I would suggest that you get reconciled to the way God does things because that’s the way they’re going to be done. But there’s another side. Verse 3, the Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and he will not at all acquit the wicked. God’s not going to acquit the wicked. The judgment of God is seen in his judgment because he’s slow to anger. It took him 100 years to get around to executing judgment against this city. And God is just and righteous in doing it. He’s not going to let the wicked off. Never will he let the wicked off unless the wicked turn to God, unless they accept Christ as Savior. Because he paid the penalty for their sins, they’ll have to be judged for their sins. God is not going to let them off. God is just and righteous. Who do you think he is, a crooked judge? Do you think that he’s taking something under the table to let you off? He is not. He intends to judge. The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm and the clouds are the dust of his feet. God even moves in nature and the storms that come. They are under his control and they serve his purpose today. Our God is the creator and he’s the redeemer and he’s also the judge. He’s running things, friend. Just leave him in his hand and rest in him today because he’s good and he’s gracious and he’s the savior. Until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 02 :
It’s true, God’s running things, and we can rest in Him. But at times, it may seem like life doesn’t make any sense, and you question why bad things continue to happen. If that’s where you find yourself, why don’t you download Dr. McGee’s free booklet, Why Do God’s Children Suffer? It’s available from our app or at ttb.org, or just call us at 1-800-65-BIBLE, and we’ll help you locate it. I’m Steve Sweats, and I’ll meet you back here as the Bible bus rolls along.
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Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.
SPEAKER 02 :
Through the Bible is a five-year study of God’s entire word, and together we discover God’s purposes in history and our lives, found only when we believe in Jesus Christ. Do you know him yet?
