Nahum - Hesed that Confronts Oppression | HESED

So let's just be honest with each other this

morning. How many of you have read the book of

Nahum? Long time ago. Okay, that counts. All

right, Wes. Okay, about six others of you. Nahum

is one that we totally skip over, mainly because

of how small it is. It's not the smallest of

the minor prophets, but it definitely sometimes

just kind of gets passed by, because when you

go through the major prophets, those are the

big ones, the long ones, the weeping ones. It

gets kind of exhausting. We get to the small

ones, and we get to, okay, we know the ones that

we kind of can pull from, namely Micah, because

we can't name half of them. them, and then we're

like, let's just get to the New Testament. But

I think we do such a disservice because the Minor

Prophets hold so much Jesus in them, pointing

us as it actually is like recapping a bunch of

the history. So we're actually going to be in

a history that this church knows very well because

who can remember the sermon series for lunch

and a conversation with Pastor Jim, okay? Who

can remember the sermon series we were in when

COVID came through and we went kind of just online?

Oh, someone answered before. I know you rose

your hand. They cheated, Jill. Sorry. They cheated.

I don't know who it was, but it was Jonah. Right?

Jonah, I will always remember that sermon series,

getting excited for Jonah, preaching here with

a camera right here. But we were in Jonah, which

a lot of us know that story. If you've been in

church any kind of part of life, you know the

Jonah, or you know at least the veggie tales

around Jonah. That came out pretty much when

that song came out. Thanks, Evan. And so understand

that we're going to see a little bit of a recap.

of not Jonah himself, but the town of Nineveh.

I knew a bunch of you were going to get it, so

I didn't put anything on it. But Nineveh. But

my first question is, when you think of the concept

of loving fiercely, I use that term specifically.

When you hear that someone loves fiercely or

you try to love fiercely, what does that mean?

If you're new here, I ask questions. We have

a dialogue. It hopefully keeps you guys from

falling asleep, but also it brings about, I think,

a conversation. This can't just be me. It's got

to be all of us. When you think of the idea of

loving fiercely, okay, keep it appropriate, but

what does that mean? What do you think of when

someone loves fiercely? Up in the balcony. You

even rose your hand and then forgot the words,

right? That's, oh, you remember. Love with no

conditions, okay, all right. We got the ball

rolling now. To love fiercely. What? Won't be

deterred, right? When Rick saw Joe that first

time, he knew, right, that he will not be deterred.

Though she ran, he ran after her, okay, and eventually

got her. Loves fiercely. Oh, something else was

said over here, but it was Mike Scott, and he

talks a lot. Okay, others. Loves fiercely. Intensely,

absolutely. How about over here, our annex crew?

What does it mean to love when you think of loving

fiercely? What? With your whole heart. Sure,

love it. Two more. Unconditional, okay? I know

that baby's trying to say something. We just

don't understand what it is yet. One day. Them

above yourself. That's a really good one. Them

above yourself. We're going to start the conversation

when love becomes fierce. Okay? For a lot of

us, we are comfortable with the fact that God

forgives us. We actually love that. It would

be really hard to be a believer if God wasn't

a forgiving God. Think about that for a minute.

That is a total upset of your apple cart. Why

would you worship a God that doesn't forgive?

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. God is

a forgiving God. We're told that from very early

on. We grow into that understanding. A mature

believer goes, I don't need to take advantage

of that. Insert conviction here. We are very

comfortable with a God who forgives. We are far

less comfortable, maybe to the point where we

struggle, with a God who judges. For a lot of

us, we'd rather just kind of skip by the judging

and go right to the forgiveness. If we're being

honest, we totally would. We struggle with that.

We love things like mercy, compassion, patience

by God. Not so much when we have to show it,

but when God shows patience. We love God's gentleness.

But unfortunately, the minor prophet, prophet

but minor is book -sized, Nahum, brings us something

a lot harder to deal with today. And it's just

as biblical as a compassionate, merciful, loving,

patient, gentle God. The compassionate God. Wonderful.

We're going to look a little bit on the flip

side. The fierce love of God. If Hosea from week

one showed us that God pursues wanderers, Joel

then showed us that God who restores what is

ruined, Amos shows us a God who reshapes our

lives with justice, Obadiah showed us a God who

defends his people, last week Micah showed us

a God who humbles his people, Nahum now shows

us a God who confronts evil itself. The central

truth for this message this morning, we'll come

back to it at the end as well, God's chesed does

not ignore oppression. God's chesed rises up

against it. But here's the kicker. It rises up

even more so when believer oppresses believer.

Yes, the nations will oppress believers. We see

that throughout history. God shows up. Because

a God who truly loves cannot remain passive in

the face of cruelty. So as we do with every of

these sermons, let's get a little breakdown.

Little Nahum 101. Who is Nahum? He was a comforter

with a hard message. The word Nahum, the name

itself, means comfort. So for all those expecting,

if you're looking for a name that we don't hear

often, May I offer this, right? Nahum, is there

a first or a middle name? It means comfort. It's

a good thing. And it feels strange because the

entire book is about the destruction of Nineveh,

which was the capital of Assyria at the time.

So a book that is named Comfort has to do with

the destruction of people. But you see, in the

grand scheme of the history, for God's people,

this is not bad news. This comfort is different.

There's actually comfort in these words. Let's

just do a little bit of history. Assyria at the

time was the dominant empire in the ancient world.

It was a brutal military system. When they went

in, they went in to wipe out everything. It was

politically ruthless. It was famous for torture,

deportation, and mass executions. We're talking

bad, real dark. They had destroyed the northern

kingdom of Israel roughly 722 BC. They humiliated

Judah on a regular basis. They terrorized the

region. Assyrian inscriptions, they bragged openly

about flaying enemies while they were still alive.

They would stack body parts on their gates to

show people how fierce they were. They were all

about destroying other people. Just completely.

Wait, but this was Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital

of this, didn't we see this guy? Swallowed up

by a big fish, not a whale. Big fish go and didn't

they relent? Right? Because what does he cry

out, Lisa? You say this all the time for some

reason at staff meetings still. What does he

say? What does he cry out with the bell? Forty

more days and Nineveh is going to be in the pocket.

And who remembers what napaket meant for dinner

in conversation with Pastor Jim? Yeah, don't.

It's shoops. But for dinner, what does napaket

mean? Who remembers? Nope. Nope. Changed. That's

what. Everyone thinks it because that's what

people would do. You see the people with the

bells, that the world's coming to an end. They

think destroyed. They think all of the things

that were said over here. But what in a pocket

actually meant, they were going to be made different.

And we see the king relents. They do the ashes,

all of the things. And what happens? Jonah gets

mad. He pouts on the outside of the gate. Although

that's a different sermon series, right? Different

rhyme for a different time. But Nineveh was not

misunderstood. This is what happened. Yeah, they

got the camp high. They got the Jonah high. But

it wasn't deep enough to be a mature faith. Assyrians

come in and they just completely take over. Evil

had become institutionalized. And yet, remarkably,

God has shown mercy to them once before. This

was a part of their heritage. You know, decades

earlier, they were shown grace. Yet they have

wandered. About 100 years earlier. They repented

briefly. They were spared. They returned to their

cruel ways. And now Nahum comes with a message.

His message is this. Nineveh. Munster Church.

Friends of Munster Church. Church virtual, the

same holds true for us. God's patience has limits.

God's mercy does not excuse perpetual violence.

God will act. God will act. That is a slide.

So let's get that slide up there. God's patience

has limits. I think it's the next one. Keep going.

Okay, so this is Nahum 1 .1, right? This is just

the history of that, his word comfort. There

we go. God's patience has limits. God's mercy

does not excuse perpetual violence. God will

act. So, not only does Jonah, right, in his way

100 years earlier, in a pocket, now Nahum has

a message. But here we're going to see the character

of God. Come to life. Slow to anger. Great in

power. And we're going to read Nahum 1, 2, and

3. The Lord is a jealous and avenging God. The

Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes

vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath

for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and

great in power. And the Lord will by no means

clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and

storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Nahum begins not with Nineveh, but with God himself.

The Lord is a jealous and avenging God, slow

to anger and great in power. We may look at this

as a contradiction in the way our minds might

work, but it's not. It's actually covenant theology.

We see this throughout the Old Testament. We

see this come and kind of was brought to perfection

in Jesus. What does this mean? God is slow to

anger. God is patient with sinners. And God is

merciful to the repentant. But he also is just,

holy. Opposed to evil and faithful to protect

his people. God's love is a fierce love. The

same God who spared Nineveh in the time of Jonah

now rises against Nineveh in the time of Nahum.

Why? Because chesed, this everlasting love of

God that we're talking about, includes moral

seriousness. God is serious about the way he

loves. The people that we hold close to us, we

are serious in the way that we love them. If

we weren't, right, take your spouse or a really

good friend or maybe your adult children, right,

because your relationship maybe with your little

kids is not quite there yet. But when you have

someone close to you and they do something to

harm you, you feel that. Normally. When people

come into my office and want to talk about how

they're mad at somebody or they're angry at somebody,

it's not usually the stranger that cut them off

on the highway. It's usually a spouse. It's usually

a brother or a sister, a friend, an elder or

a deacon that they've gotten to know. People

that are close to you can cut the most deep in

your life. Yeah, and that's part of that fierce

love you have with them. If you were just indifferent,

right? I see my friend Eli over there, a guy

who the Lord has brought into my life seven years

ago, and there is a deep love one for another.

I want to love him fiercely. Sometimes he runs

away, but when he receives it, he likes it. But

if he were to do something to hurt me, and I

was just kind of like, eh, whatever. If I was

indifferent to that hurt, there wouldn't be a

whole lot of love between us, would there? No,

because you wouldn't really care. What we're

talking about is love that we actually care about.

Relationships that mean something to us. God's

hesed includes moral seriousness. Love that can

never confront evil is not love. Marriages that

are built on passive -aggressive natures really

isn't a marriage. Relationships that are built

on never willing to sit down and have the tough

conversations That connection isn't all that

great. The young couple or the engaged couple

or whoever that come to me and say, and I ask

them what it's like when they fight, and they

go, we don't fight. I go, you don't have a relationship.

Because there are times we're going to step in

it. We're going to hurt each other. And the love

is what boomerangs us back. That hesed boomerangs

us back to have those conversations. A love that

is tested and true. A weathered love or a weathered

relationship knows this kind of love. And we

can have that because of our next point that

God, the Lord is good and a stronghold. He's

the one holding it all together. How many of

you at the end or somewhere in your wedding ceremony

had the quarter three strands verse? That a cord

of three strands is not easily broken. How many

of you had that in your, how many of you probably

don't even remember what was said in your wedding?

But understanding that is the Jesus strand holding

it all together. Nahum is going to say something

astonishing now in verses 6 through 8. Who can

stand before his indignation? Who can endure

the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out

like a fire and the rocks are broken into pieces

by him. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the

day of trouble. He knows those who take refuge

in him, but with an overflowing flood, he will

make a complete end of his adversaries and will

pursue his enemies into darkness. There's something

astonishing here. Right in the middle of the

judgment language, Nahum inserts a psalm of comfort.

Why? Because this book is not primarily about

Nineveh. It is actually about Judah. It's about

God's people. God's people are small, threatened,

anxious, and oppressed. I don't know, maybe you're

finding yourself in those words this morning.

Maybe this season of life, you feel small, you

feel threatened, you feel anxious or oppressed.

And what is God saying through what he's saying

to Nineveh? God says, I am not only your judge,

I am your refuge, I know you, I protect you.

I don't know about you, but that's grace. Even

though you may get in a fight with your spouse,

a loved one, a child, whatever. You're still

going to protect them. You're still going to

be there for them. This is grace. Grace 101.

A preserving grace. The canons of Dort insist

that God preserves his people even amid persecution.

And God assures believers of his protection and

final victory. Nahum shows us judgment for the

oppressor is protection. for the oppressed. Let

me say that again. Judgment for the oppressor

is protection for the oppressed. This is hesed

in action. This is recognizing the oppression

going on, taking action to stop it, and caring

for the victims of it. This is God's love in

action. And what does this bring? The ultimate

fall of Nineveh. God ends oppression completely.

Chapters 2 and 3 describe Nineveh's fall in terrifying

detail. If you're like, hey, maybe tonight, right

before our kids go to bed, devotions, we're going

to go into Nahum. We're going to read it. Steer

clear of chapters 2 and 3. That won't go well.

And what's remarkable is Nahum actually predicts

Nineveh's destruction decades before it happens.

You see, in 612 B .C., Babylon invades, the Tigris

floods Nineveh's giant walls, the city is burned,

and Nineveh disappears from history. Bloop. Gone.

For centuries, skeptics doubted Nahum, but the

cool thing is, archaeologists uncovered parts

of Nineveh in the 1800s. It's just another way

the Bible brings things full circle, even in

our history, and I love it. Another rhyme for

another time. Nahum was right. But why does God

destroy Nineveh? Well, let's list their sins

one more time so we can remember. Nahum lists

their sins. Bloodshed, lies and plunder, sexual

exploitation, witchcraft and manipulation, cruelty

without remorse. Okay? Worth this, right? Worth

God's judgment? Absolutely. God says, behold,

I am against you. Chapter 3, verse 5. Probably

one of the most terrifying sentences in all of

Scripture. Let me put that on us. All of a sudden,

you get a message from the Lord. All of a sudden,

the Lord sits and meets with you, looks you square

in the eye, and says, insert your name here,

I am against you. I don't know if there's anything

more terrifying than that. I am against you.

And yet, for God's people, it's the most comforting

sentence in all of Scripture. Why? Because God

is against oppression. God is for the oppressed.

Always has been, always will be. Jesus brings

that to culmination in his Sermon on the Mount.

In his teaching in Matthew 25. So this is Chesed

opposing evil. and preserving the saints. God's

justice flows from his covenant love. God does

not judge randomly. He doesn't just kind of close

his eyes and say, and I'm going to judge you.

He doesn't spin a wheel. This is specific. He

judges because he loves righteousness, he loves

his people, and he hates cruelty. You want to

know the person that hates the sin in your life

more than you do? God does. And he says, come

with me, won't you, in hating your sin? Let's

do this together. He loves righteousness. He

loves his people. He hates cruelty. Grace 201,

Canons 1, verse 7, or Head 1, 7. God's dealings

flow from his sovereign will and gracious purpose.

God's sovereign will and gracious purpose for

your life is for you to love him uncontrollably

without any other things in the way and that

you would receive his love in return. That's

part of the plan. God's justice is not the opposite

of his grace. It is in defense of his grace.

The things you hold most dear to your life, you're

going to fight the fiercest to keep them. Hopefully,

it's the people and the values in your life,

not your stuff. But the things you hold most

dear to you, you will fight the most fierce.

Two, God preserves his people through oppression.

God does not remove suffering immediately, though

I know I wish he would too. He doesn't. He does

it in his will and his ways. But what does he

guarantee even in the midst of suffering? protection,

preservation, final vindication. Isaiah 43, when

you pass through the waters, I will be with you.

That doesn't mean he takes you, bloop, over the

waters and puts you on the other side. When you

go through the waters, I will be with you. He

doubles down, Isaiah. When you walk through the

fires of life, I will be with you. It's not an

if, it's a when. Welcome to faith. Welcome to

being a life of a believer. Not everything is

going to be unicorns and rainbows, right? It

sounds super boring anyway. But it's the understanding

when the hard things come, God is preserving

your life. Nahum says, Behold the feet of him

who bring good news, for never again shall the

worthless pass through you. This is deliverance

language. This is gospel language. This is victory

language that Paul then later brings into Romans

Romans 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10 when he promises that God will be

with you. But you're going to suffer at times.

Life's not going to seem fair at times. But you

have to understand your perspective to God's

persevering perspective. God's reminding you

this morning, church, he's playing the long game

in your life. And he's asking, are you? Are you

just wanting the wins and the successes and the

comforts every second? Because when you want

that life, you're not trusting in God. Or you're

believing in some gospel that if you believe,

the money in your bank account will come. I'm

sorry, there's nothing in here that says that.

There's not. There never has been, there never

will be. But what does the canons help remind

us in Grace 301? That God will ultimately end

all oppression. Long game, long game. The canons

end with this hope. Christ will complete the

work, evil will ultimately be defeated, and the

church will be preserved. And it's kind of cool,

preaching that in a church that has been around

156 years. I don't know about you, that's kind

of cool. There's some beauty to that. Nahum is

getting eschological. He's pointing forward,

church triumphant, revelation. He's pointing

toward the final judgment, the fall of Babylon

and revelation, the triumph of Christ. Christ

isn't even a thought yet, and he's pointing towards

that. Chesed does not tolerate evil forever.

God's chesed promises a future without oppression.

So what can we take for the rest of our day and

our week today? What can we take with us? What

is Nahum trying to get us to understand about

living that hesed out? First, take God's oppression

seriously. Right? Or that God, sorry, God takes

oppression seriously. He does. If he takes it

seriously, we need to take it seriously. This

is a matter of victims of abuse, persecuted Christian,

marginalized communities, wounded families. God

takes that oppression seriously. We need to as

well. What does that look like in your life?

Nahum says God is not indifferent. He's not passive.

He's not confused. God sees. God remembers. God

will act. And maybe, just maybe, he's going to

act through you. Maybe, just maybe, he's going

to act through our church. Or I look around and

see other churches represented this morning.

Maybe he's going to do that. Maybe he's going

to use the cadet ministry, the GEMS ministry

to help and see the victims of oppressed. However

that works in a kid's life for that ministry.

Who knows? But God's going to do it. Second,

God is a refuge before he's a judge. Before God

destroys Nineveh. He offers Judah this promise.

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of

trouble. Grace comes before wrath. Refuge before

reckoning. Third, the church must reflect God's

protective chesed. If we are the church, we must

reflect. We must reflect this love. If God confronts

oppression, then his church must protect the

vulnerable, listen to the wounded, resist cruelty,

speak against abuse, and create safe spaces.

If the church isn't doing that, what is the church

doing? And pause. I've had to say this now because

inevitably I'll get an email or a text message.

It is not a political sermon. Don't make this

a political sermon. If you're receiving my words

and you're making it political, you're doing

it. I'm not. So that's on you. It's not on me.

This is not political. This is God -itical. Sorry,

that doesn't make any sense. This is God's hesed

at work. It's not with anger, but with courage

and compassion. Four, Jesus is the fulfillment

of Nahum. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord he's

the fulfillment. Because if he wasn't, that means

it's still going to happen this way. But Jesus

is the fulfillment. Where Nineveh fell under

judgment, Jesus fell under judgment for us. Where

Nineveh faced God's wrath, Jesus absorbed God's

wrath on the cross. Where oppression ended by

destruction, salvation comes to us via sacrifice.

Where oppression ended by destruction, salvation

comes to us by sacrifice. And because of Jesus,

these three things will always be true. Evil

will not win. Oppression will not last. And the

kingdom ultimately belongs to the Lord. The good

news of a just God is this. And I land the plane.

Nahum's final words are this. Behold, on the

mountains, the feet of him who brings good news.

You could read this book and go, good news. This

is not good news. I don't receive this as good

news. But friend, it is. It's good news because?

The tyrants fall. Cruelty ends. Victims are vindicated.

And God ultimately reigns. Remember, Hosea showed

us a God that pursues. Joel, a God who restores.

Amos, a God who reshapes. Obadiah, a God who

defends. Micah, a God who humbles. And today

Nahum. shows us a God who fights evil itself.

And that, above all else, is always good news.

Let's pray.