PRIDE AND CRUELTY AND EVIL ARE DOOMED
"I will make thy
grave; for thou art vile" Nahum
1:11
This is the prophecy
which sets forth, more clearly than any other, the truth concerning THE WRATH
OF GOD, IN ITS NATIONAL APPLICATION. Its burden is that of VENGEANCE. It
contains three messages:
- The first is a statement
of the verdict of vengeance (4);
- the second gives us the
vision of that vengeance (2);
- the third is an argument in vindication of that vengeance (3).
It was concerned with Nineveh, and was delivered almost
certainly when she was at the height of her power. One hundred years before;
Jonah had preached in her streets, and she had repented, and been spared. In
the interval she had repented of her repentance, but had continued her
oppression's and cruelties. Her spirit had become incarnate in one who defied
Jehovah (see vs. 11, the reference being to Sennacherib); therefore, the time
of the "full
end" had come. In these words we have SENTENCE AND VERDICT. The
SENTENCE was that this great and arrogant and brutal power should be buried,
the VERDICT against her being that she was vile. Thus the DIVINE VENGEANCE is
revealed as to its principle of action and its completeness of execution. The
whole message is remarkable for the care with which the prophet insisted upon
the GOODNESS OF GOD, thus emphasizing the righteousness
of His vengeance, in that it proceeds only against those who have finally resisted His mercy. But when
that is done, then His WRATH makes a full end; it is irresistible, complete, and final. All this is good tidings. That PRIDE
AND CRUELTY AND EVIL ARE DOOMED, because God reigns, is certain, and the
certainty is comfort indeed.
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