In this deep dive into the scriptures, we journey through the prophetic writings of Nahum with Steve Schwetz and Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Listen to the urgent message against the backdrop of ancient Nineveh—a city at the crossroads of redemption and ruin. As we explore Biblical prophecies, past, and future, we glean timeless lessons on God’s principles for judging nations. This thought-provoking episode underscores the imperative of aligning with God’s will and embracing His profound compassion and righteousness.
The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in God.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know when you’re watching a movie or reading a book and right in the middle of the story there’s a flashback scene that explains something deeper about one of the characters? Well, that’s kind of what’s going to happen in this study on Through the Bible. I’m Steve Schwetz, and I’m glad that you’re on the Bible bus as we travel through the book of Nahum. our tour guide well of course that’s dr jay vernon mcgee and he’s going to point out the landscape through the old testament prophet’s eyes now about that flashback remember the prophet jonah well he lived about a hundred years before the events that nahum writes about remember what city jonah refused to go to and warn about god’s judgment right nineveh if you remember the people of nineveh did repent and god chose not to destroy them as jonah had warned well Now it’s a hundred years later, and the people of Nineveh have forgotten the mercy of God and are back to their wicked ways. Now it’s Nahum’s turn to give them the same message, but it doesn’t end the same way. Dr. McGee prepared a special introduction before we get into the book. Let’s listen now.
SPEAKER 02 :
Now, it’s been stated that one-third of Scripture was prophetic when given, and that many of the prophecies have already been fulfilled. For instance, there were 28 prophecies fulfilled at the crucifixion of Christ. There were many prophecies fulfilled at the birth of Christ, and then there are great prophecies concerning great cities and nations that are in the Word of God, and they’ve been literally fulfilled. Tyre and Sidon today, which both of them are in shambles again, they are in Scripture, and it’s been literally fulfilled. Now, there are those today that have found out that this little book is important because it contains fulfilled prophecy, a great prophecy concerning a great nation. And somebody is going to say, but shouldn’t that make this an unimportant book? Absolutely obsolete today because Nahum tells us of the judgment of God on Nineveh, And Nineveh was destroyed according to the prophecy. It was fulfilled. And Nineveh has passed off the stage of human events. And merely all it is is a historical record today. Why not write QED after it? Can it as they do a television program today after they’ve made it? And put it on the shelf. That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Don’t get excited over this little book because everything is as dead as a dodo bird. In fact, it’s not Nahum, it’s Hoham. Well, God sent Jonah with a message of judgment to Nineveh. And this was 200 years before Nineveh was destroyed. Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, and God saved that generation. And a hundred years went by, and Nahum appears on the scene. Nahum gave a prophecy again that Nineveh would be destroyed. They had the record and history of what had happened in the past, and Nineveh had an opportunity to repent. God gave them another 100 years to make up their mind. They did not repent, and God destroyed the city and Nineveh. The capital of the Assyrian Empire passes off the stage of human events, and it’s merely a historical record. Now, that city and this little prophecy contains a message and a warning for us today. It’s as up-to-date as if the printer’s ink was not dry upon the little prophecy. It reveals the great principle by which God judges nations. God raised the question, shall not the judge of all the earth do right? And believe me, he answered that in a bold affirmative.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, if you haven’t already, grab your copy of God’s Word, and I’ll ask the Lord for direction as we begin. Heavenly Father, you are the judge, and you judge all things right. You also are compassionate and gracious, so help us to turn to you quickly when we hear your voice. And thank you for your Word traveling to the corners of the earth. Thank you for the work that you’re doing in each of us, too. In Jesus’ name, amen. Here’s Dr. J. Verna McGee with our study of Nahum 1 on Through the Bible.
SPEAKER 01 :
Friends, we come back to the little prophecy of Nahum. And if we keep before us that we have here a man born apparently up in the northern kingdom. And he, sometime in his youth, moved down to the southern kingdom. There was an Elkosh in the northern kingdom and an Elkosh in the southern part of the southern kingdom. And he went there. And this man prophesied concerning Nineveh, the capital of the great Assyrian empire, a very brutal nation. Now, he put down here in verse 3 a great principle by which God did not only judge Assyria and Nineveh, the capital in particular, but this is the way that God judges the world and will judge the world in the future. And this is a tremendous statement, so I back up and pick it up as we move along. The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind, and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. Now, the Lord is slow to anger. That is something Nahum makes very clear. You see, God sent Jonah into Nineveh to tell them that Nineveh was to be destroyed because of its awful sin. They were known as probably the most brutal people in the ancient world. And God said that judgment would come. But these people… The entire city of Nineveh repented and turned to God. And obviously, it penetrated the entire empire. And there was a great change. We would say a great revival broke out. Now, that didn’t last very long. And it’s been characteristic of the great waves of revivals that have come. They’ve never lasted permanently. There’s never been a permanent revival yet. The Wesley revival… It had tremendous impact upon England and this country and the side effects upon other nations. But it was for a brief duration. There’s been a carryover, of course, of it even down to the present hour and the great Moody revivals, when actually an entire city would be moved in that day toward God. Well, this is the thing that God has done. In the past, he seems to continue to do it, but he’s slow to anger. So this great city turned back. And a hundred years later, after Jonah, Nahum comes and says, well, now the clock has struck. It’s 12 and time has run out. There is no longer delay. Judgment is coming. And why? Well, he says here, and God will not at all acquit the wicked. You see, the forgiveness of God is different than our forgiveness. And I must repeat this. When somebody does us wrong, we say, I forgive you. And that’s it. Penalty has not been paid or anything. It’s generally for something that may be just a trifle, or it could be a matter of some importance. But when God forgives, the penalty has already been paid. Because you see, God is the judge of this earth. He is not only its creator, he not only is running it, but he’s the moral ruler of this universe. And you see, God is not a crooked judge. You can’t slip something under the table to him and get him to let you off easy. And you can’t tell him that you belong to a certain family. and that your father is very influential, and he’ll be able to get you off. Or you cannot say that you are very wealthy, and that you will get the judge’s job, or you can pay him just a little extra to be lenient on you. You can’t deal with God like that. God must judge the wicked. And all of us are told that the heart is desperately wicked, not just a little wicked, but desperately wicked. And you and I don’t know, really, the depth of the iniquity that’s in our hearts, what we’re capable of. Now, God can’t acquit us. Therefore, if we are going to be acquitted, someone must pay the penalty. That’s the reason that he’s provided a Redeemer. Now, when an individual or a nation turns its back upon God’s redemption that’s provided now in Christ, then judgment must follow. There’s no other alternative. Because now he closes out by saying that God controls the storms. Mother Nature doesn’t have really much to do with it. Mother Nature does what he tells Mother Nature to do. And so in verse 4, I read now, “…he rebuketh the sea, and he maketh it dry, and he dryeth up all the rivers.” Bashan languishes, and Carmel and the flower of Lebanon languishes. Now, these are the three fertile areas in that land, the valley of Bashan and Carmel. And Carmel would be the valley that actually has Draylon. Or Megiddo is the city that’s there. This is today one of the most fertile spots on topside of the earth. And then when you go farther north, I’ve driven several times along the coast of Lebanon, all the way from Beirut down to where you have the ruins of old Tyre. And that is beautiful country. You can see in the spring of the year, the fruit trees blooming. And in the distance, the anti-Lebanon’s covered with snow. I have many pictures that I made there. The fruit trees, the apricots, the peaches. And they grow everything in that area. It’s very fertile. Now, a drought, you see, would come. And I’m sure that there are many of you that remember the dust storms in this country. I always felt that they were a judgment from God. If there had been any kind of a revival at that time, I’m sure we’d never have had to fight World War II, nor would we have been involved in everything since then. But unfortunately, it carried no message at that time for this country. Now, at verse 5, we read the mountains quake. before him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world and all that dwell in it.” He’s the Creator, and he’s also the Preserver of this universe. He’s the one who holds it together. And you can hold him responsible for anything that takes place, for the floods that come. for the earthquakes that come, but don’t hold him responsible for the people that are killed at that time because man has been given an intelligence that tells him that he ought not to build down too close to the river because the flood may come. Maybe those of us that are living here in Southern California ought to listen to him. We are told that an earthquake is coming, and that is probably true. We’re in a great earthquake fault. The San Andreas Fault runs right close to where I live. If an earthquake came and I had a loved one that was slain by it, am I going to cry out to God and say to him, you were the one that killed him? No, God is not responsible. We’d be responsible. Probably we ought to move to another location. But very frankly, my entire family, we like Southern California because we’re going to stay right here and take the chance. But what I’m trying to get over is God does control nature. But you can’t say that he is to blame when these great tragedies take place. Man is responsible for them. He ought to stay away from getting too close to the river, and he ought to stay away from where he knows where there are going to be earthquakes. Now, listen to verse 6. “‘Who can stand before his indignation?’ And who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. Now, man has learned that you can’t stand up against nature. Victor Hugo wrote three great novels. He wrote Les Miserables to show that society is the enemy of man. He wrote Notre Dame to show that religion is the enemy of man. And he wrote Toilers of the Sea to show that nature is the enemy of man. Well, it’s owing to how man approaches all of these. Religion has been an enemy of man. And society is the enemy of man. This civilization today is no friend of grace, I can assure you that. And nature can be an enemy of man. But nature can also be a friend of man. But the question is this. If you are going to try to fight against nature, you’re fighting a losing battle. That’s what Victor Hugo tried to show in his novel. Who can stand before his indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? Do you have the answer to that question? And I’d like to ask that of you if you’re unsaved today. Maybe you’re depending on your own righteousness and goodness. Do you really believe that you can stand in the presence of a holy God? That absolutely he hates sin. He intends to judge sin. Are you able to stand in his holy presence? That’s the reason that that very brilliant Oxford Don C.S. Lewis wrote about a bus trip that they ran from hell. Now, this is really a mythological bus trip. And there’s no Bible bus either. And it was a tour that was carried on from hell to heaven. And those that were in hell could take a bus trip up there to heaven. And the bus was filled. And when they arrived in heaven, the bus driver parked in the parking lot. And I’m sure there’s plenty of parking up there. And so he told everybody on the bus, he says, now four o’clock this afternoon, why the bus is going to leave and the bus is going to head for home, which happened to be hell. And at four o’clock that afternoon, why that bus was filled. Everyone was back. But the bus driver told him, if you want to stay, you can stay. And why didn’t they stay? Lewis said, they found out. that they had no place in heaven, and that, as one of the great saints of the past put it, he said, I would rather go to hell without sin than go to heaven with sin. Who is able to stand before his indignation? If you don’t have a Savior, how are you going to stand as a sinner in the presence of a holy God? Do you think that you’ve got a chance? You don’t have a ghost of a chance, my friend. You can’t stand there without a Savior. And that’s what it means to be accepted in the Beloved and to be in Christ today. This is a tremendous principle that he’s putting down here. God must judge sin. There’s something radically wrong with God if he doesn’t judge sin someday. Now, verse 7, the Lord is good. And let’s keep that in mind. You remember the psalmist said, the Lord is good, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. And if the redeemed don’t say so, nobody’s going to say so. So I’m going to say so. God is good. God is good, friends. That’s wonderful to know. I don’t know who you are, where you are, how you are, but wherever you are, God today loves you and God wants to save you. And if you’re not saved, just because you won’t come to him because he can save you and he will save you. God’s good. That’s an axiom of Scripture, and it’s an axiom of life. The Lord is good, and he’s a stronghold in the day of trouble. Are you having any trouble? Well, if you want to get to a good shelter, the Lord is that shelter. And he knoweth those who trust in him. I’m very happy that I’m not going to get lost in the shuffle. I won’t get lost in the multitude. I sometimes in this day, as we see the increase of the population throughout the world, and as I go from city to city at times, I think my everybody’s moved to the West Coast. And I’d get on one of these freeways, and I think, my, the people they are. And then I go back to Dallas, Texas, and I said, I thought everybody had gone to California, but here they all are, followed me here to Dallas, because the crowds are everywhere. Then I go all the way down to Florida. Or I go to Buffalo, New York, or to New York City, and they followed me there because you’ve never seen such crowds in your life. And then I say, well, I’m going to Europe. And they’re over there. And you go to the Orient. And I tell you, the multitudes that are there, it almost shocks you. You look into Egypt. You go into some of the Arab countries. go into Turkey, the multitudes. And I think, well, my, I hope the Lord remembers my name is Vernon McGeehan and I trusted him. And I’m very happy that the scripture says, he knoweth those who trust in him. He doesn’t have to have an IBM machine to record your name. Actually, he’s got you written on his heart. He’s written your name on the palms of his hands. He knows you. He knows those who’ve trusted him. Verse 8, But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. Now, this raises a question here about hell and whether the place of permanent punishment, the place that actually is the lake of fire, whether it’s literal fire or not. Now, I’m going to deal with this completely when I get to the book of Revelation where it’s mentioned, and that won’t be too long from now. But may I say this at this time? There is more said about darkness being the lot of the lost than fire. Darkness, here it’s mentioned, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. And then you remember the Lord Jesus even used the term, they shall be cast into outer darkness. And I don’t know about you, fire could only affect the physical, never the spiritual. Oh, the fires of a conscience that’s been suddenly alerted to the awful thing they did in rejecting Christ and the things they should have done and did not do. And think of the darkness of a lost eternity, of not being able to see where you’re going at all. May I say to you, darkness to me is a better description of hell than fire is. That may be a new thought for some folk today, but pursue it in the Word of God. And when we get to the book of Revelation, we’ll deal with this thoroughly. And by the way, at verse 9, we come now to the justice and goodness of God demonstrated in his decision to destroy Nineveh and to give the gospel. Will you listen to this? What do ye imagine against the Lord? He will make an utter end. Affliction shall not rise up the second time. In other words, they’ll not be given a second chance. They’ve had their last chance. They’ve crossed over a line, that invisible line that I do not know where it is. But it’s somewhere out there that you can step over it in your rejection of God. And it doesn’t mean the grace of God couldn’t reach you, but it means you can’t reach the grace of God at that particular point. And verse 10, “…for while they are entangled together like thorns, and while they are drunk like drunkards.” they shall be devoured like stubble fully dry. And I would say this especially today to young people. Make your decision for Christ while you’re young and you have a sharp mind. Because you can keep playing around even with intellectualism today, which I tried in college and almost got detoured. And you can play around, as many are doing today, with drugs and alcohol. And you can, as Nahum says, the day will come when you’ll stumble around like a drunkard. And if you stumble around like a drunkard, you can’t make a decision. A man called me from back east. I wouldn’t talk with him. I told him, I said, you’re drinking. And he said, yes. And I said, you’re drunk. He said, yes. Well, I said, the liquor’s speaking, not you. When you are willing to sober up, and call me. I’ll be glad to talk with you, but I will not talk to liquor. May I say to you, they at that day had reached the place where they could make no decision. Must stop there. Until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s true, the cares of this world so easily entangle our hearts, our thinking, and our priorities. I leave you with this encouragement from Hebrews 12. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. For help finding resources to encourage you in your walk with Jesus, call us at 1-865-BIBLE, shoot an email to BibleBus at ttb.org, or write to Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C, 6B1. And of course, you can always access a ton of resources using our app. Just look for it in whatever app store you use. I’m Steve Schwetz, looking forward to that day when we see Jesus face to face. Until then, may God bless you as you look to Him.
SPEAKER 04 :
All to Him I owe. Sin hath left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
SPEAKER 03 :
Just go to ttb.org or download our app to listen again anytime. As always, we’d love to know what’s God teaching you.
