God According to God

compassionate gracious slow to anger abounding in love and faithfulness maintaining love to thousands forgiving wickedness rebellion and sin does not leave the guilty unpunished

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A Study of Exodus 34:6-7

Trash Talk

• What is trash talk?
• What is the purpose of it?
• Name some setting in which “trash talk” often takes place.
• Think of these two different but related settings: 1) Trash talk being done on the basketball court, to the faces of the opposing team and/or 2) Trash talk about the opposing team, being done in the huddle with your own teammates. How would the first be different from the second?

Nahum’s Trash Talk

• Nahum doing his own form of trash-talking about Nineveh/Assyria, to God’s people in Israel.
• All the insults and predictions of doom were likely not ever heard by the people in Nineveh.
• Nineveh’s doom was predicted to Israel, who would have welcomed and been encouraged by this news.

Nineveh

• Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire, was known for its wickedness.
• Last week, we looked at Nineveh’s repentance, but today, we’re looking at the flip side.
• They really were terrible, and smaller nations – like Israel – suffered under their domination.

Nahum 1:1-6

• Characteristics that Nahum mentions:
• the LORD is avenging and wrathful; (2)
• The LORD is slow to anger and great in power (3)
• the LORD will by no means clear the guilty (3)
• What characteristics from Exodus does Nahum leave out?
• What can you already guess about the point that Nahum is trying to make?

Nahum 1:1-6

• Nahum imagines God as one whom all creation fears
• The waters are afraid (4).
• The mountains are afraid (5a).
• The whole earth is afraid (5b).
• “Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger?” (6a)
• God’s wrath is poured out like hot fire that even shatters rocks! (6).

Nahum 1:1-6

• Describes Nahum’s picture of God.
• How comfortable are we with this imagery of God?
• What do you make of Nahum’s statements, which indicate that all creation (not just humans) stands in awe and fears God?

Nahum 1:7-15

• He affirms that God is good and a refuge in times of trouble (7a).
• He affirms that God cares for those who trust in him (7b).
• He will end Nineveh with an “overwhelming flood” (8).
• He will pursue Nineveh (here called God’s foes) into “the realm of darkness”(8b).
• Nineveh may plot against God, but he will end those plots and not allow Nineveh to trouble Israel “a second time” (9).

Nahum 1:7-15

• Nineveh will be “entangled among thorns and drunk from their wine; they will be consumed like dry stubble” (10).
• Apparently, there is one particular person planning this evil who will be defeated (11).
• Who is Nahum’s audience?
• He’s writing to God’s people in Judah.

Nahum 1:7-15

• Nineveh might have many allies but they’ll be destroyed (12a).
• Judah may have been afflicted in the past, but they’ll be afflicted no more (12b).
• God will break Nineveh’s yoke from Judah’s neck (13).
• They will have no descendants (14a).
• God will destroy their idols and temples (14b).
• God will prepare their grave (14c).

Message for Judah

• Judah should celebrate, because they will not see an invasion again from Nineveh. Nineveh will be destroyed (15).
• How do these words serve as an encouragement to Judah?
• What reasons does Nahum give for Nineveh’s destruction? Why do they deserve this?

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Application

• Nahum believes that God will bring judgment and justice to Nineveh because of some of God’s qualities we have been studying
• Specifically, that God will not leave the guilty unpunished
• This desire for justice is inherent in humans
• Psalm 109:6-15
• What do we see in this Psalm?

Application

• Is it ok for us to pray to God to punish the wicked?
• It is in God’s character to be just – what does that mean?
• Have you ever been in a situation where you strongly desired this kind of justice from God?
• How is God’s justice a comforting quality?
• How is it a frightening quality?

Application

• How can we pray the kinds of prayers like in the psalms above without becoming an angry, vengeful person?
• How do we balance calling for God’s justice with the command to love our enemy?

Homework

Study the word compassion

• Study the word com

Compassion – 13 Old Testament references

• Exo 34:6
• Deu 4:31
• 2 Chr 30:9
• Neh 9:17
• Neh 9:31
• Psa 78:38
• Psa 86:15
• Psa 103:8

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• Psa 111:4
• Psa 112:4
• Psa 145:8
• Joel 2:13
• Jon 4:2

Compassion – 12 New Testament references

• Mat 9:36
• Mat 14:14
• Mat 15:32
• Mat 18:27
• Mat 20:34
• Mark 1:41
• Mark 6:34

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• Mark 8:2
• Mark 9:22
• Luke 7:13
• Luke 10:33
• Luke 15:20