Reading… and Thinking

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…

Who can stand before his indignation?

    Who can endure the heat of his anger?

His wrath is poured out like 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 the adversaries,

    and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

– Nahum 1:3-8 (ESV)

The Lord is very slow to anger. But it’s wise to remember: this truth does not mean He never gets angry. He is very patient, but not endlessly patient. He forgives over and over, but does not clear the guilty. This character of God was revealed to Moses in Exodus 34, and it is the foundation of much subsequent Scripture, including this passage in Nahum. God’s character – forgiving, but just – is at the very heart of His dealings with mankind.

Peter commented on this in his second letter, speaking (as Nahum was) of God’s eventual judgment (2 Peter 3). Peter cautioned that people “deliberately forget” the fact that God's patience drew to an end at the time of the flood. I’ve seen this phenomenon myself. People will spiritualize the flood, reduce it to a local affair, make a parable out of it. Or, even if they agree it was literal, they believe that the "Old Testament God" has been replaced by a "New Testament God" who is much more merciful.

He is the same God! Always, forever. It is willful ignorance, deliberate forgetting, to pretend otherwise. What would motivate anyone to deliberately ignore this? Perhaps the urge to block out God's past judgments comes from a wish to block out the warnings of judgment to come.

He is slow to anger. The world has gone on for thousands of years now. Peter tells us most will say, “All things continue the same.” And so the whole world continues to make its plans as if everything will just keep on continuing the same. And, let’s be honest, sometimes this may include me. Perhaps you, too.

Of course we must go on making plans. We don't know when the Lord will say, "Enough!" It might be in our lifetime – in fact it seems very likely – but we don't really know. We can't simply sit down and wait till the Lord returns, doing nothing. We need to be doing, and therefore we must do some planning.

But it shouldn’t be the way the world does it. Our plans should always be made mindful of the fact that our God will intervene; He will call a halt to the dominion of the flesh, and to all the plans of men and women who deliberately ignore Him.

If we are faithful to Him, there's no reason to fear, and every reason to long for the promised end to come. As Nahum says, “He knows those who take refuge in Him.” He knows those who make and follow plans to serve themselves. And, He knows those who make and follow plans, in hope they will be interrupted by the culmination of the great Plan. The first have made themselves His enemies, and sadly they will face His indignation.

The last are secure in the stronghold.