A GOD OF WRATH?
Today I sat down and read the book of Nahum. Nahum, whose name means 'comfort', was a prophet who, around 650 BC, prophesied the destruction of Ninevah. At that time, around 100 years after Jonah had prophesied to that city, and its consequent repentance, the people of Ninevah had fallen away from God and fallen once more into terrible sin. God's wrath was kindled and in the year 612 BC, the city was destroyed by an army formed by the coalition of once-subject peoples including the Babylonians, Medes, Chaldeans, Persians, Scythians and Cimmerians, after a catastrophic flood broke through its defensive wall.
The prophecy of Nahum begins with these words:
The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance on his foes
and vents his wrath against his enemies.
3
The Lord is slow to anger but great in power;
the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.
Nahum 1:2
Today we don't like the idea of a wrathful, avenging God and we tend to downplay this aspect of his character. We emphasize instead the love of God. We are uncomfortable with a God who kills and destroys. But these two aspects of God are inextricably intertwined. Ray Stedman explained it thus:
Now there is an individual application as well. To those who think that God is only a God of love and never of wrath, let them learn from Nahum that a God who is never angry is a God who cannot love. Did you ever think of that? God's wrath comes from his love. It is because God loves that he is angry; because of love that wrath must blaze forth. You can prove that to yourself. What moves you to anger? Isn't it almost always when something or someone you love is threatened or injured? It may be yourself. We all love ourselves. What makes us angry? Somebody injures us and because we love ourselves, we get mad at them. Or someone injures our child and our wrath blazes forth. And if you cannot get angry when you hear or see injury and injustice, it is proof that you are not capable of love, for the one who cannot be angry is the one who cannot love. If you can read stories of atrocities and oppression and the awful traffic in body-destroying and soul-destroying drugs and narcotics among young people and never be moved to burning anger, then I tell you there is something wrong with you. You are incapable of love. If God cannot smite, if he cannot destroy in vengeance, then he has no capacity for love.
https://www.raystedman.org/bible-overview/adventuring/nahum-the-terrible-wrath-of-god
You will know this is true if you have ever seen (or been) a mother when her children have been threatened. This is a natural reaction, one built into us, who are made in the image of God, and which is designed to motivate and enable us to protect the things we love, be it our children, others we love, our possessions or even ourselves.
Nahum tells us that God is slow to anger but great in power (1:3). God is patient with us when we sin, but when we persist in that sin rebelling against him, eventually his anger will burst out upon us. Ninevah was a terribly sinful city but God gave it a chance. He sent to Ninevah the prophet Jonah, who warned them of God's coming judgment. They repented and were saved at that time. But they did not continue to worship God, rather returned to their evil pagan gods and fell into all kinds of debauchery and witchcraft.
In this little book of Nahum there is a deep message still relevant today. On an individual level, we must be careful that having once repented we do not turn back to rebellious sin against God. He is slow to anger, but we can push Him too far. The same principle holds for nations and peoples. If they threaten that which God loves, and the Bible repeatedly tells us of God's deep love for Israel, then they risk the wrath of God.
We may not like the idea of a wrathful, avenging God, but we should take comfort in this, as the name of the prophet suggests. If we put our trust in God, He will be our refuge and He will protect us in times of trouble. The love of God and the wrath of God are two sides of the same coin. Just as a child will be comforted by the wrath of its mother against those who threaten it, so too can we take similar comfort:
The Lord is good,
a refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in him
Nahum 1:7
Nahum comforts Judah with these words:
Look, there on the mountains,
the feet of one who brings good news,
who proclaims peace!
Celebrate your festivals, Judah,
and fulfill your vows.
No more will the wicked invade you;
they will be completely destroyed.
Nahum 1:15 (in Hebrew texts Nahum 2:1)
We can see this principle being worked out again and again if we study history. Every nation, people or ideology that has risen up against God's beloved Israel has been destroyed. It may not happen immediately because God is slow to anger, but it eventually every enemy of Israel will be destroyed. This is something the nations of the world would do well to heed.
This week the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the organization that should be the upholder of truth, shamefully voted to declare the Old City of Hebron, and the Cave of the Patriarchs a Palestinian World Heritage Site, ignoring any Jewish or Christian heritage (1). The Cave of the Patriarchs stands on the first land, the field of Machpelah, that Abraham purchased from the Canaanite peoples in order to bury his wife, Sarah. Later Abraham himself was buried there as were Isaac and Rebekkah, Jacob and Leah (Genesis 32). During the Herodian era an open structure was built around the burial caves. This structure is considered to be "the oldest continuously used intact prayer structure in the world, and is the oldest major building in the world that still fulfills its original function" (2). During the Byzantine Era a basilica was constructed in the southeastern end and the structure was roofed except in the center. In around 570 AD a visiting pilgrim noted that Jews and Christians shared the possession of the site (3). The region was conquered by Muslims in the year 614 and the church destroyed. In 637 Arab Muslims reconstructed the building as a roofed mosque. In 1100 Crusaders captured the mosque and converted it to a church, but in 1188 it was reconquered by Saladin and it has remained in Muslim hands until the Six Day War in 1967 when it was captured by Israeli forces. The Ibrahimi Mosque (as it is known by Muslims) is maintained by the Muslim Waqf but access is controlled by the Israeli army. Most of the outer wall of the existing structure is the Herodian period structure. Currently Muslims, Christians and Jews are allowed access at different times. The declaration of the site as a Palestinian World Heritage Site ignores historical Jewish and Christian claims. When Israel tried to have it declared a World Heritage Site in 2012 there was an outcry from the nations, yet when the Palestinians claim it for themselves the nations are strangely silent. Only the USA has spoken out against the decision.Through the United Nations, Palestinians are rewriting the history books chapter by chapter, and many of the nations of the world are complicit, either by voting in favor or simply by standing by in silence. All I can say is beware the wrath of God.
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| The Cave of the Patriarchs http://www.telegraph.co.uk/meetthesettlers/images/chapter2-image2.jpg |
"Israel maintains a policy of non-involvement in the Syrian civil war. However, we will not tolerate any breach of Israel's sovereignty."
"Israel holds the Syrian regime responsible for any breach of its borders and will act accordingly."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4983320,00.html
One of the missiles landed nearby during a speech being given by Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, to mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of Katzrin, the largest city on the Golan. Netanyahu said, "we will not tolerate spillover and that we will respond to every incident...Whoever attacks us – we will attack him. This is our policy and we will continue with it...Our line is clear: We are not interfering in the bloody conflict in Syria, which has lasted more than six years, but we are determined to respond firmly and forcefully to any violation of our sovereignty. Anyone who fires at our territory and endangers our citizens will face a harsh and quick response...We are not willing to accept any ‘leaks’ or a ‘steady drizzle’ [of rockets] on the Golan or anywhere else. Similarly, we will not allow radical Islam, led by Iran or ISIS, to constitute a terrorist front against the State of Israel from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights."
https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/90540/syria-fires-rocket-golan-heights-third-incident-week/#g19dxMUWldi5HPcW.99One of the missiles landed nearby during a speech being given by Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, to mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of Katzrin, the largest city on the Golan. Netanyahu said, "we will not tolerate spillover and that we will respond to every incident...Whoever attacks us – we will attack him. This is our policy and we will continue with it...Our line is clear: We are not interfering in the bloody conflict in Syria, which has lasted more than six years, but we are determined to respond firmly and forcefully to any violation of our sovereignty. Anyone who fires at our territory and endangers our citizens will face a harsh and quick response...We are not willing to accept any ‘leaks’ or a ‘steady drizzle’ [of rockets] on the Golan or anywhere else. Similarly, we will not allow radical Islam, led by Iran or ISIS, to constitute a terrorist front against the State of Israel from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights."
Immediately afterward Israel attacked and destroyed several Syrian mortar launchers.
These incidents highlight the escalating level of tension in the north as the war in Syria restructures the balance of power along our borders. The assessment of our security and intelligence services is that neither Syria nor Hezbollah wish to embark on hostilities against Israel at this time since they are busy with the Syrian fighting. However, Hezbollah, with the backing of both Syria and Iran, makes no secret of its desire to attack Israel in the future and they are amassing a massive arsenal of weapons for this purpose. Since the 2006 war in which Hezbollah attacked Israel this terror organization has upgraded its weapons arsenal to around 150,000 missiles, and may also have advanced surface to sea and anti-aircraft weapons systems acquired from Iran.http://www.timesofisrael.com/ahead-of-building-border-fence-idf-girds-for-possible-hezbollah-clash/. Israel is currently upgrading the fence along the Lebanese and Syrian borders because of the threats of incursion, or cross-border terror attacks. After a recent incident in which an unarmed Lebanese man walked undetected across the border and several kilometers into Israeli territory to the town of Kiryat Shmona, the IDF has begun upgrading the border fence along the Lebanon border. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/How-the-IDF-boosts-security-along-the-border-with-Lebanon-490276
Recently the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, announced that
" that the next war with Israel could see thousands of Shia militia fighters join forces with Hezbollah to fight Israel ...This could open the way for thousands, even hundreds of thousands of fighters from all over the Arab and Islamic world to participate – from Iraq, Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan,”.
Seth Franzman, writing for the Jerusalem Post, had this to say,
"Now Nasrallah is indicating that any future war with Israel will involve frontlines in Syria and Lebanon and that it has strategic depth that it never had in Lebanon, which is a small country, by relying on Shia militia allies from far and wide and the vastness of Syria and Iraq.
Hezbollah wants to drag Israel into a large conflict spanning a crescent from Beirut to Tehran, where Israel’s advantages, such as its air force and technology, will be less useful. Israel will be forced to contend with striking Hezbollah allies in Syria, Iraq and potentially Iran and Yemen, leading to a regional conflict.
Hezbollah hopes that Israel would be dragged into attacking the Syrian regime that would provoke Russia. A previously acknowledged Israeli raid near Palmyra was challenged by Syrian air defenses. Russian “de-confliction” with Israel, that has worked well near the Golan, would not necessarily exist for Israel if it had to deal with enemies deeper in Syria.
Similarly the US would oppose any Israeli military activity confronting Shia militias in Iraq, who are part of the Iraqi government, which is allied with the US. The US has invested heavily in Baghdad’s central government and its prime minister Haider Abadi, involvement of Iraq’s Shia militias in a conflict with Israel would strain relations with Washington.'
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| The Shia world https://lubpak.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/shia-today.png |
The situation in the south is not much better. There also continues a 'trickle' of rocket and mortar fire from Gaza and the Sinai into Israel. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is reaching crisis level. Or is it? According to Prof. Hillel Frisch, professor of Political and Middle East Studies at Bar Ilan University and a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies the Gazan humanitarian crisis is a myth. He points out that commonly accepted social indicators of wealth such as life expectancy, the importation of goods and electricity demand, have all increased in Gaza since the so-called blockade was imposed by Israel and Egypt. Life expectancy in Gaza stands at 74 years which puts it above the world average and above that of other Arab states. In addition, the 60% increase in the demand for electricity which has occurred since 2010 indicates growing prosperity in Gaza. Even the so-called blockade itself is a myth. Prior to the brief 'blockade' in 2007 Israel 10,400 trucks carried goods from Israel into Gaza monthly, but in 2016 14, 460 trucks entered monthly, an increase of 34.6%. What other country do you know that supplies food and goods, and even electricity to its enemies, who constantly swear to wipe it off the map? (4)
If there are poverty and hardship in Gaza, and I know there is (just as in many other countries of the world, including Israel), the blame should not be on put on Israel or Egypt but squarely on the shoulders of the ruling power there, Hamas. According to the latest available figures, in 2013 the Hamas government spent only 2% of its annual budget on development and 11.2% on social welfare, much less than the 25% Egypt, with a similar socio-economic profile, spends (4). Most of the rest of its budget goes into building military infrastructure and buying armaments with which it intends attacking Israel.
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| Gaza City https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Gaza_City.JPG/220px-Gaza_City.JPG |
Take a 6 minute tour of Gaza city - filmed in the winter of 2017. It looks pretty much like any Middle Eastern city.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNgLFgTR_rY
In view of the vicious web of lies and misrepresentations, the rewriting of history, and the flood of anti-Israel propaganda on the internet and the world's media, the only reliable source of information is the Bible. All the nations of the world need to take heed of the Bible's warnings - BEWARE THE WRATH OF GOD!
But now many nations
are gathered against you.
They say, “Let her be defiled,
let our eyes gloat over Zion!”
12
But they do not know
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13
“Rise and thresh, Daughter Zion,
for I will give you horns of iron;
I will give you hooves of bronze,
and you will break to pieces many nations.”
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,
their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
Micah 4 : 11-13
3. Avni, Gideon (2014). "Prologue: Four Eyewitness Accounts versus ‘Arguments in Stone’". The Byzantine-Islamic Transition in Palestine: An Archaeological Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199684335.
