If God Is Against Us...
(88)
Sermon shared by W. Maynard Pittendreigh
October 2002
Summary: In Nahum, God says, "I am against you." We like to emphasize one of the verses of Nahum: "God is slow to anger..." but there is a limit to God’s patience. What happens when we continually turn our backs on God?
Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed
Audience: Believer adults
We convince ourselves that we deserve mercy, not justice.
I used to work as a counselor in a state prison. I’ve got to tell you, I don’t believe I ever met a guilty person in prison. “The judge had it out for me,” one would say. Another would say, “I was framed.”
The warden of our prison once told me, “My hardest job is to convince an inmate that he has done something wrong.”
We live, as did Nineveh, in a culture that thinks ethics are arbitrary, that we can make our own rules, and there is no right or wrong.
This is a terrifying worldview.
The Russian author Dostoyevski said, “If there is no God, anything is permissible.”
When we turn away from God and reject authority and accountability, we in effect become our own gods. What is God’s response to this lawlessness?
Nahum tells us in chapter 3, verse 5 of his book, “’I am against you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” He goes on to say (verses 6-7) that those who walk their own path will be stripped of their glory and made defenseless.
We can offer hope to our lost world, a world going its own way, a way that leads to destruction. We have the roadmap, the right directions.
In our Scripture lesson for today, Nahum announces (1:15), “Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace!”
We can be that one offering the good news.
We should have a sense of urgency towards those who don’t know the Lord.
We need to offer prayer for our community, care about those who need the Lord, and share what God had done for us.
God will give us opportunities if we ask.
The Nineveh that Nahum knew was overthrown, so completely that archeologists only uncovered the remains of this once mighty power in 1845.
In Nahum, chapter 2 verse 6, we read a prophecy: “The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses.”
Historians tell us that the Babylonian army laid siege to Nineveh for 3 months. Then after a period of heavy rainfall the river overflowed and broke down part of the city wall. The ruler of Nineveh perished in his burning palace. The invaders sacked and utterly destroyed the city. So complete was the destruction that armies have actually marched over the city of Nineveh without knowing the ruins of this once proud city lay beneath their feet.
No nation is immune from judgment. Among those who reject God, who refuse to turn from their wickedness, there will be no survivors.
Proverbs 29:1 warns, “Some people are still stubborn after they have been corrected many times; they will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.”
Twice God said to Nineveh, “I am against you” (2:13, 3:5).
Paul says in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us.”
But if God is against us…? God is just and will punish evil. This is a lesson urgently needed today.
I used to work as a counselor in a state prison. I’ve got to tell you, I don’t believe I ever met a guilty person in prison. “The judge had it out for me,” one would say. Another would say, “I was framed.”
The warden of our prison once told me, “My hardest job is to convince an inmate that he has done something wrong.”
We live, as did Nineveh, in a culture that thinks ethics are arbitrary, that we can make our own rules, and there is no right or wrong.
This is a terrifying worldview.
The Russian author Dostoyevski said, “If there is no God, anything is permissible.”
When we turn away from God and reject authority and accountability, we in effect become our own gods. What is God’s response to this lawlessness?
Nahum tells us in chapter 3, verse 5 of his book, “’I am against you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” He goes on to say (verses 6-7) that those who walk their own path will be stripped of their glory and made defenseless.
We can offer hope to our lost world, a world going its own way, a way that leads to destruction. We have the roadmap, the right directions.
In our Scripture lesson for today, Nahum announces (1:15), “Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace!”
We can be that one offering the good news.
We should have a sense of urgency towards those who don’t know the Lord.
We need to offer prayer for our community, care about those who need the Lord, and share what God had done for us.
God will give us opportunities if we ask.
The Nineveh that Nahum knew was overthrown, so completely that archeologists only uncovered the remains of this once mighty power in 1845.
In Nahum, chapter 2 verse 6, we read a prophecy: “The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses.”
Historians tell us that the Babylonian army laid siege to Nineveh for 3 months. Then after a period of heavy rainfall the river overflowed and broke down part of the city wall. The ruler of Nineveh perished in his burning palace. The invaders sacked and utterly destroyed the city. So complete was the destruction that armies have actually marched over the city of Nineveh without knowing the ruins of this once proud city lay beneath their feet.
No nation is immune from judgment. Among those who reject God, who refuse to turn from their wickedness, there will be no survivors.
Proverbs 29:1 warns, “Some people are still stubborn after they have been corrected many times; they will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.”
Twice God said to Nineveh, “I am against you” (2:13, 3:5).
Paul says in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us.”
But if God is against us…? God is just and will punish evil. This is a lesson urgently needed today.
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