Post by Cindy on Aug 2, 2015 11:15:33 GMT -5
Nineveh is an amazing object lesson for everyone, especially in these last days! First God sends Jonah there to warn them that He's going to destroy them if they don't repent. Surprisingly, they do repent and God spares them. I say surprisingly because reading the history about Assyria of which Nineveh was the capital,we discover they were evil, bloody, and violent people who showed no compassion for anyone - not even children or babies. Reading of the things they did reminds me a lot of Hitler and what was done to those in the concentration camps. The only difference was that these people did those same kind of things to everyone and not just to certain people. Yet when Jonah announced their coming destruction, they actually repented! Amazing! Sadly it didn't last beyond more then one or two generations as 150 years later, Nahum told them that God was fed up with them and they were out of chances. Now they would be destroyed. Other prophets also spoke about them and how God would judge them, and there's a lot in the bible about the atrocities they did to God's people and others. We also have secular history and the Assyrian kings own words literally written in stone that prove that what the Bible says they did is totally true and accurate. So this is no fairy tale that people can just shrug off and think doesn't concern them.
When we read Nahum and see what God has planned for Nineveh, we see that He means it when He says that we will reap what we sow. He quite literally does to them what they did to others, and even uses people they had harmed terribly to serve justice on them. Reading this is like a preview of the last days through the Second Coming. Those who hear the message realize that time is short and that no one is promised tomorrow. They repent and are saved, for God will have mercy on them and spare them from His wrath. They'll still experience hard times here, till the rapture, but they won't experience His wrath that's poured out during the Tribulation. They realize that now is the day of salvation, not tomorrow! Most people though will not take it seriously enough to act on it, and in fact, most won't even bother to hear the message at all. Like the Assyrians, they will reap what they've sown and it won't be pretty.
God is in control today just as He was during Nineveh's time. Nineveh is gone now. What was once a major kingdom and world power is now nothing but dust and ruins. Not because of time, but because of God's judgment which happened just exactly as the prophets foretold it would. The Bible says so and History itself confirms it. Today we hear a lot about God being love and how loving He is and rarely if ever hear about Him being a God who judges sin as evil and destroys those who refuse to repent. But God isn't any less severe today then He was during the old testament times, nor is He more compassionate now then He was then. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He's just as uncompromising towards sin today as He was then and just as compassionate and merciful to those who repent. The Jesus who healed the sick and who saves those who believe in Him, obeying Him, is the same Jesus that warned the people about the coming destruction of Jerusalem. The Christians escaped because they believed Him. The rest of the population, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, was killed or went into slavery dispersed all over the world because they didn't repent and didn't believe Him. He's also the same Jesus who warns us that He will come again to judge everyone and give each person what is due them.
In fact, our Jesus is the same Jesus who ended the Assyrian's siege on Jerusalem. We're told about it in 2 Kings 19:35–36; and 2 Chronicles 32:21–22. When the bible speaks about "The Angel of the Lord" in the Old Testament, it's speaking of the pre-incarnate Jesus. Jesus went into the Assyrian camp just outside Jerusalem's walls and killed 185,000 men, effectively ending their siege on Jerusalem.
With Nahum, and the other prophets, God told the Assyrian's exactly what would happen to them. It would be like having your enemies war plans against you right in front of you. Only they didn't pay attention to it. They were much too busy living their lives and satisfying themselves to pay attention to anything God said about them. Sadly the majority of people today are exactly the same way. God has clearly told us what will happen to those who don't admit that they're sinners and repent of their sins. He's told us what will happen to those who say they do admit they're sinners but don't really repent of their sins, and those who simply ignore the whole issue too. Many people who claim the name "Christian" seem to think they'll be able to get away with just about anything because they're "saved". But in Gal 6:7–8 we're told: ‘Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction.’ Today is a day to pay close attention to God's object lesson of Nineveh and examine our hearts with His help and make sure we're in the faith. (2 Cor 13:5) We need to remember that even demons "believe in Jesus" but they are not saved. They will go to hell. Those who are saved not only believe, they also obey Him. Their words and their actions show their belief.
“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.” (2 Thessalonians 1:6–10)
“But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” (Romans 2:5–13)
“A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.” (Daniel 7:10)
When we read Nahum and see what God has planned for Nineveh, we see that He means it when He says that we will reap what we sow. He quite literally does to them what they did to others, and even uses people they had harmed terribly to serve justice on them. Reading this is like a preview of the last days through the Second Coming. Those who hear the message realize that time is short and that no one is promised tomorrow. They repent and are saved, for God will have mercy on them and spare them from His wrath. They'll still experience hard times here, till the rapture, but they won't experience His wrath that's poured out during the Tribulation. They realize that now is the day of salvation, not tomorrow! Most people though will not take it seriously enough to act on it, and in fact, most won't even bother to hear the message at all. Like the Assyrians, they will reap what they've sown and it won't be pretty.
God is in control today just as He was during Nineveh's time. Nineveh is gone now. What was once a major kingdom and world power is now nothing but dust and ruins. Not because of time, but because of God's judgment which happened just exactly as the prophets foretold it would. The Bible says so and History itself confirms it. Today we hear a lot about God being love and how loving He is and rarely if ever hear about Him being a God who judges sin as evil and destroys those who refuse to repent. But God isn't any less severe today then He was during the old testament times, nor is He more compassionate now then He was then. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He's just as uncompromising towards sin today as He was then and just as compassionate and merciful to those who repent. The Jesus who healed the sick and who saves those who believe in Him, obeying Him, is the same Jesus that warned the people about the coming destruction of Jerusalem. The Christians escaped because they believed Him. The rest of the population, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, was killed or went into slavery dispersed all over the world because they didn't repent and didn't believe Him. He's also the same Jesus who warns us that He will come again to judge everyone and give each person what is due them.
In fact, our Jesus is the same Jesus who ended the Assyrian's siege on Jerusalem. We're told about it in 2 Kings 19:35–36; and 2 Chronicles 32:21–22. When the bible speaks about "The Angel of the Lord" in the Old Testament, it's speaking of the pre-incarnate Jesus. Jesus went into the Assyrian camp just outside Jerusalem's walls and killed 185,000 men, effectively ending their siege on Jerusalem.
With Nahum, and the other prophets, God told the Assyrian's exactly what would happen to them. It would be like having your enemies war plans against you right in front of you. Only they didn't pay attention to it. They were much too busy living their lives and satisfying themselves to pay attention to anything God said about them. Sadly the majority of people today are exactly the same way. God has clearly told us what will happen to those who don't admit that they're sinners and repent of their sins. He's told us what will happen to those who say they do admit they're sinners but don't really repent of their sins, and those who simply ignore the whole issue too. Many people who claim the name "Christian" seem to think they'll be able to get away with just about anything because they're "saved". But in Gal 6:7–8 we're told: ‘Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction.’ Today is a day to pay close attention to God's object lesson of Nineveh and examine our hearts with His help and make sure we're in the faith. (2 Cor 13:5) We need to remember that even demons "believe in Jesus" but they are not saved. They will go to hell. Those who are saved not only believe, they also obey Him. Their words and their actions show their belief.
“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.” (2 Thessalonians 1:6–10)
“But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” (Romans 2:5–13)
“A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.” (Daniel 7:10)