The Vision of Nahum

“The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. 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. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. 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. The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry” (Nah. 1:1-10). Wow! What a prophecy, and what a dreadful vision of the Lord! This vision that was seen by the prophet Nahum was no 3D movie my friend. It was and is very real, and we are very close to the fulfillment of this prophecy right now. There are many who will read this post that will see this very vision fulfilled with their own eyes.

What the prophet saw was the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to this world. This terrifying vision brings a certain proverb readily to mind: “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished” (Prov. 22:3). That begs the question, Exactly where does a “prudent man… hide himself?” The apostle Paul gave us the straight up and plain answer to that question: “For ye are dead [to sin], and your life is HID with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:3,4). The only place that one can hide from the coming wrath of God that will be poured out on this world “without mixture” by the Lord Jesus Christ, is IN the Lord Jesus Christ (Rev. 14:10). The apostle John said the same thing that Paul said in the quoted verse above, with a little more significant detail: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (I Jn. 3:2,3). “Appearing with him in glory” means that the faithful will be raised from the dead with an immortal body like Jesus has, when he comes from heaven (I Cor. 15:51-53; Philip. 3:20,21). In order to make that grade, one must first GET in Christ, and afterward one must ABIDE in Christ in order to be hidden from the wrath of God’s vengeance that is soon to come on this rebellious world of sin.

The scriptures are clear that it is the baptism of the holy Ghost from the hand of Jesus that puts anyone into Christ (Rom. 6:3,4; I Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:27). To ‘abide’ in him is simply to “purify [ourselves] even as he is pure,” like John said. If we purify our hearts by the power of the holy Ghost continually from everything that is contrary to God’s holy love and peace, there is nothing left but the Spirit of God to dwell in us. That is how we abide in him and he abides in us (Jn. 15:4). “Now the Lord IS that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty [from sin]” (II Cor. 3:17). This is not a difficult thing to do. One only needs to love the righteousness of God, hate wickedness, and remain honest in heart till the end (Mat. 24:12,13; Lk. 8:15). The flip side of not choosing this path, and not “appearing with [Jesus] in glory” when he comes, is exactly what Nahum said it will be: “they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.” That is a direct reference to taking a torch to dry stubble, and Jesus said the same exact thing this way: “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” (Jn. 15:6). Why anyone would not just give in to the magnificence of God’s love and mercy now, and live with sublime peace in this tumultuous world, is beyond me. It surely takes some laboring in prayer daily, and suffering reproach for God’s righteousness sake to fulfill this calling; but the payoff is far more than worth it, both now and later (Lk. 6:22,23). And the payoff for resisting God’s mercy now is worth avoiding, regardless of the cost. Nahum’s vision certainly shows us that. Amen.