Nahum 1:1-7 Giving Comfort

“The oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the
Elkoshite.” (Nahum 1:1, HCSB)

The chapter opens by describing an oracle to a city and nation. Nahum

– whose name means God’s comfort, is given a vision. He is given a
picture of God’s comfort. Although we may look at these verses and
think they are not comforting, I assure you God is a comforting God.
When we look our situation, we think about how big the problems are,
and how difficult it will be to deal with them. We need to be reminded
that God’s comfort is larger than our circumstances. God is in the
business of giving comfort to His people.

When we compare the two prophets that spoke to the nation of Assyria
in the capital of Nineveh, we see some interesting things.1 

God is the same throughout these two events. He uses two different
prophets with two different messages and reaches the nation. The
nation has changed over time. They have gone from an obedient to a
disobedient nation. However, God never changed. His characteristics
are the same.

If we look into the character of God, we will see a God who really cares
for us. How does He do this? Let me share with you EIGHT
characteristics of a comforting God. 

EIGHT CHARACTERISTICS  OF A COMFORTING GOD

God is a comforting God. He expresses that comfort in a variety of

ways. These eight characteristics describe the way God comforts His
people during a difficult time. You will remember Jonah was sent to
Ninevah and he was given a message to tell the people to repent. Even
though Jonah didn’t like the job, nor the audience, He obeyed God.
The people repented for a time.

However, years have passed and the nation has fallen back into sin. So
God sends another prophet to the same town and same nation to tell
them that there will be a judgment. You may be thinking: What does
this have to do with God comforting me? The first five characteristics
illustrate how God comforts us by the way He acts toward our enemies
and our circumstances. The last two characteristics illustrate how God
comforts me in the time of my difficulties. In other words, the first five
deal with the circumstances. The last two deal with how He comforts
me personally.

Let’s look at these characteristics and see how God comforts us.

1. God is zealous.

“The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance

and is fierce in wrath. The Lord takes vengeance against His foes; He
is furious with His enemies.” (Nahum 1:2, HCSB)

Modern translations use the word jealous. However, that is not what
the word really means. God is really zealous in His comfort, not
jealous. Unlike jealousy on the human plane, which unfortunately
involves all the wrong attitudes (suspicion, distrust, rivalry), God’s
jealousy shows itself as an eager zealousness to maintain the integrity
of His own character and truth.2 Therefore, because God is a
comforting God, He is jealous.

Here is a way of looking at the jealousy of God:

You see, when I get jealous it is because I am worried someone is going

to take something or someone from me. Not so with God. God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are completely content
in and of themselves. God isn’t saying, “If I lose Jon, My whole world
will collapse and I’ll be miserable.” No, God is all-sufficient. He has
need of nothing. This means His love for me is not based upon my
satisfying Him or my fulfilling a void in His life. Therefore, because He
needs nothing, God’s jealousy is vastly different from man’s.

God is jealous not because He’s worried about His loss—but because
He’s concerned about our hurt. Think of it this way: If we were at the
zoo and a cobra slithered out of its cage and was face to face with my
kids, I’d be very jealous for them. It’s not that I would worry that the
cobra would steal them away from me or that they’d like the snake
better than me. No, I would simply be concerned that the cobra would
hurt them.

That’s the kind of jealousy God has. “Kids,” He says, “I’m not
concerned that you’ll hurt Me but that you’ll be hurt in leaving Me.
The cobra is sure to strike, so I will deal with those things that will
hurt or harm you. I will take vengeance on My enemies in order to
protect My children.”3

2. God is avenging.

“The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance

and is fierce in wrath. The Lord takes vengeance against His foes; He
is furious with His enemies.” (Nahum 1:2, HCSB)

God is zealous for His people and He exacts vengeance against His
enemies. He works for His people and He works against His enemies.

God avenges His people in the sense that He champions their cause
against their enemies. He does so because He is jealous or protective
of His people. While God is avenging for or on behalf of His people, He
is avenging against His adversaries.4

I realize that this may sound like God does not care. However, the
caring of God is to and through His people. Yes, God loves the world.
However, He loves the world only when they have come to Christ.
The movie The Avengers are about superheroes who correct a wrong
that has happened. A man is killed in the line of duty by the villain
Loki. Iron Man says: We may not be able to protect the Earth, but we
sure will be able to avenge it.

To avenge means to inflict harm in return. It is usually associated with

the other person who has done harm on the defenseless or weak. God
is the One who works for the weak.

3. God is “wrathful.” (Ba’al)

“The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance
and is fierce in wrath. The Lord takes vengeance against His foes;
He is furious with His enemies.” (Nahum 1:2, HCSB)

The word for “fierce in wrath” is the Ba’al. This word means Lord. He
is the master of everyone. So when we talk about God is fierce in
wrath, we mean that He is the God we should submit to. The reason is
because He has the power to avenge. He expresses His power of
“angry” or fierce mastery.

Master of the house gets angry when one of the tenants does
something wrong and the master is willing to punish the tenant. God
has that capability. He uses it on people who don’t listen to Him.

If you are a parent, you don’t like it when the children don’t listen to
you.

If you are manager, you don’t like it when the workers don’t listen to
you.

If you are the owner, you don’t like it when the renters don’t listen to
you.

If you are God, you don’t like it when the people who You created don’t
listen to you.
That is wrathful. It does not mean however, that God blows His top.
Thank God that God doesn’t blow His top. He is slow to anger.

4. God is slow to anger.

“The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will never
leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm,
and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.” (Nahum 1:3, HCSB)

Haven’t you found that when your temper boils over, you always end
up in hot water? I have! God is not like that. Over and over again, our
Father identifies Himself as One who is slow to anger5

5. God is very powerful.

“The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will never
leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm,
and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.” (Nahum 1:3, HCSB)

God is slow to anger and yet He is powerful. Isn’t that a great thing to
know? Many people have great power and are slow to anger. They
don’t keep their anger under control. However, God is able to keep His
anger under control until it is appropriate. When He does get angry,
He is very powerful and He is quick.

6. God is quick

The idea here is that God is quick with His judgment. God doesn’t wait
too long to punish those who have wrong Him and His people.

“When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the people
slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had. They
cried out with a loud voice: “Lord, the One who is holy and true, how
long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the
earth?” So a white robe was given to each of them, and they were
told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed
of their fellow slaves and their brothers, who were going to be killed
just as they had been.” (Revelation 6:9–11, HCSB)

“The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will never
leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and
storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.” (Nahum 1:3, HCSB)

It took Him one hundred years to get around to executing judgment

against this city, and He is just and righteous in doing it. He is not
going to let the wicked off. Never will He let the wicked off unless they
turn to Him. Unless they accept Christ as their Savior because He paid
the penalty for their sins, they will have to be judged for their sins.
God is not going to let them off—He is just and righteous.6

Notice the speed of the whirlwind and the storm. See the picture of
clouds rolling under the feet of God. God is a God of justice. He will
punish the guilty. It will be swifter than they think.

God’s righteousness demands that the guilt resulting from sin cannot
just be overlooked (Prov. 11:21; Hab. 1:13). The “wages” for sin is death
(Rom. 6:23), and God cannot leave the guilty unpunished and still be
righteous (Exod. 34:7; Num. 14:18; Deut. 7:10; Nah. 1:3). The only way
God can forgive sin in us is to impute that sin to Christ and punish it in
Him:7

“God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present

time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one
who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:26, HCSB)

God therefore has to avenge for the righteous. He has to punish the
unrighteous. He is quick in His judgment of the guilty. However, in
order to forgive the sin that prevents us from connecting with God,
God made a way to “impute” that sin. He punished His Son instead of
us.
Now the choice is on us to accept that forgiveness or to receive the
punishment that we are due. Because God is powerful, He could
choose to punish us. However, because He is also caring, He wants us
to come to Him. Don’t look at this as a God who doesn’t care. He cares.
The problem is that we don’t care to come to Him when it comes to
our sin problem. It is because He is slow to anger and great in power
that we have the opportunity to come to Him now.

In this chapter, we see three different ways in which God expresses

His power. These three areas also reveal how God cares.

HOW GOD EXPRESSES HIS POWER

God expresses His power over nature

“He rebukes the sea so that it dries up, and He makes all the rivers
run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither; even the flower of Lebanon
withers.” (Nahum 1:4, HCSB)

“The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt; the earth
trembles at His presence— the world and all who live in it.” (Nahum
1:5, HCSB)

God  expresses His power over His enemies

“Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning
anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, even rocks are shattered
before Him.” (Nahum 1:6, HCSB)

God expresses His power through His goodness to His

people

God doesn’t just express His anger over nature or His enemies. God
also expresses His power through His goodness. Notice that in Nahum
1:7, God expresses His power through His goodness. 

7. God is good.
“The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of distress; He cares for
those who take refuge in Him.” (Nahum 1:7, HCSB)

When we encounter trouble, He becomes the stronghold on which we

can anchor our soul. We can lean on Him.
When we are responsible with our relationship, He recognizes us. This
means that He makes the distinction between who is wicked and who
is just. He will not judge harshly those who are responsible with their
relationship with God. Notice the relationship is a two-way
relationship. God has made the way possible through Jesus Christ. But
our relationship can grow through trust and obedience. When we
encounter difficulties in our life, we can know for certain that God will
provide.8

By His very nature, God is good.

“God is indeed good to Israel, to the pure in heart.” (Psalm 73:1,

HCSB)

This verse reminds me of a verse in Psalm 107 when the Psalmist is

reflecting on the goodness of God. God is good because of how He has
helped and protected His people from the enemies. 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures
forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim that He has redeemed
them from the hand of the foe” (Psalm 107:1–2, HCSB)

8. God is caring

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of distress; He cares for

those who take refuge in Him.” (Nahum 1:7, HCSB)

God is good and He cares for us. The word for “cares” means that He
knows us. The point is that because He knows us. He is able to care for
our deepest needs. He can comfort us because He knows us.
“casting all your care on Him, because He cares about you.” (1 Peter
5:7, HCSB)

We can come to Him in prayer because we know that He cares for us.
We can take shelter in Him because we know that He cares for us. We
know He is good and He will help us.

Don’t think you have troubles simply because you’re a Christian. The
unbeliever has just as many difficulties as you do. The difference is,
you have access to the Problem Solver. You can turn to the Lord, the
“stronghold in the day of trouble”—but he doesn’t know he can.9

God is good and comforts you. However, He also expects you to give
comfort to other people. Remember that the first characteristics deal
with how God takes care of our circumstances? That is why God never
calls us to be “wrathful” or jealous or avenging. Only God can be this
way. However, He does expect us to share how God has used His
comforting characteristics and to share them with people in their time
of need. It should be part of our testimony. When we share how God
has been comforting to us, we are revealing God’s goodness and His
caring nature through us.

Read more at
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jimerwin/2014/10/20/nahum-11-7-
giving-comfort/#CdC7sDR2iJ1XQxGw.9