Itty Bitty Bible Study – Nahum 1:2b

Nahum

My thoughts for the Itty Bitty Bible Study group on Facebook. (join if you’d like to get these in fb!) The conversation starts Monday, August 20.

Nahum 1 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Nahum 1:2
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.

I talked in IBBS Nahum 1:2 about God being a Jealous God.

Now I want to look at Avenging God.

Websters defines it as:
: seeking or gaining vengeance an avenging angel

Strongs, from Blue Letter Bible, defines it as such:
naw-kam’; a primitive root; to grudge, i.e. avenge or punish:—avenge(-r, self), punish, revenge (self),

What does that mean for us? I decided to study some cross references via Bible Hub, based on the avenging part of Nahum 1:2.

Deuteronomy 32:35 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
35 Vengeance[a] belongs to Me; I will repay.[b]
In time their foot will slip,
for their day of disaster is near,
and their doom is coming quickly.”

Why does God say this?
Back to a parent perspective.

  • You mess with my child, and you have to mess with me! A few teachers found out that I am able to write convincing letters to authorities when they overstepped their boudnaries!
  • You mess with my brother, you mess with me! well, until my little brother grew bigger and stronger than me.
  • You mess with my husband, and you mess with me. There have been a few ladies, and some family members that have faced my wrath in this area!
  • I guess you could even say you mess with my country, and I will remember my oath as a United States Navy sailor.
  • As a Christian, when the enemy messes with my church – I will go into spiritual warfare and fight until the battle is over, or I am relieved by the Captain of the Heavenly Army.

If this is how a parent, sister, wife and Child of God responds to the enemy coming against their family, HOW MUCH MORE WILL GOD GO TO BATTLE ON OUR BEHALF?

Hebrews 10:30 KJV
For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

Deuteronomy 32:35 ESV
Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’

Romans 10:19 HCSB
Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay, says the Lord.

Proverbs 20:22 HCSB
Don’t say, “I will avenge this evil!” Wait on the LORD, and He will rescue you.

In the previous blog about a jealous God, Webster’s definition, number 3 was
3 : vigilant in guarding a possession

This is WHY God is vengeful…on our BEHALF!
The truth is, in the Old Testament, He fought for us, because we could not…please read the full chapter of Isaiah 58, linked below, but here is an excerpt:

Isaiah 59:15-20 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
15 Truth is missing,
and whoever turns from evil is plundered.
The Lord saw that there was no justice,
and He was offended.
16 He saw that there was no man—
He was amazed that there was no one interceding;
so His own arm brought salvation,
and His own righteousness supported Him.

Psalm 42 speaks of the pre-incarnate Christ, and God not sharing His glory with another(back to those idols that get in the way) and Him fighting his enemies.

Isaiah 42:12-13 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
12 Let them give glory to the Lord
and declare His praise in the islands.
13 The Lord advances like a warrior;
He stirs up His zeal like a soldier.
He shouts, He roars aloud,
He prevails over His enemies.

There is so much more I could write about God fighting for us.

  • In Job, we can read about how God has control over what the enemy can do to us…and HE will come out of the whirlwind to deliver us!
  • In Ephesians, we learn about OUR part, through the blood bought price of Jesus Christ, to stand before the enemy, In Jesus’ name, and to do battle…to be intercessors on behalf of others.
  • In James we learn about the prayer of the righteous man or woman availing much.

But, who are God’s enemies?
The Devil, obviously.

Let’s look at Adam and Eve.
They sinned, they were separated from God by their guilt…so, he killed an animal to cover them.
Eve was spoken to by the enemy. Adam just fell to his fleshly desires.

On the other hand, He is also dealing with our evil/base nature. These were not tempted specifically by the enemy as Eve had been.

  • Cain and Abel – God tried to reach Cain, and instead, Cain killed Abel.
  • Jacob and Esau – when Jacob returned, God gave him wisdom to soften Esau’s heart.
  • Moses and Pharoah – when God was done with the pain caused to the Israelites, He sent plagues and caused Pharoah to let His people Go.
  • All the battles in the Old Testament – Jericho, Gideon, David’s mighty men…God went before them, and they knew it! sometimes, the failure was because of their own sins.

The ultimate battle on our behalf – Jesus and the Devil. We could not fight off our sinful nature, nor pay the price, therefore, God sent his son to die on the cross, and pay our price. The ultimate battle on our behalf!

Psalm 91 is the ultimate promise for protection in battle.

Psalm 91 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Psalm 91
The Protection of the Most High
1 The one who lives under the protection of the Most High
dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say[a] to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

9 Because you have made the Lord—my refuge,
the Most High—your dwelling place,
10 no harm will come to you;
no plague will come near your tent.

14 Because he is lovingly devoted to Me,
I will deliver him;
I will protect him because he knows My name.
15 When he calls out to Me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble.
I will rescue him and give him honor.
16 I will satisfy him with a long life
and show him My salvation.

This vengeance by God  on behalf of us is because of a relationship!

Deuteronomy 28

When Moses was teaching the people how to understand God, he taught them the words that if we hear, and obey, we are blessed. If we do not, we live under a curse…which to me means that the blessings are removed, or cannot fall upon us.

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

Jeremiah 1:19 New International Version (NIV)
19 They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

There are many sermons preached about our victory in Jesus.
The point is, the victory was purchased and won BY JESUS – and we have to be IN HIM to dwell in victory.

There is definitely a flip side.
Matthew 25 gives the prophecy of Jesus’s return, and how he will separate the sheep from the goats.

Some think they are sheep, but this is what Jesus says:

Matthew 7:21-23 King James Version (KJV)
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Malachi 3 talks about God bringing judgement into the house of the Lord.

1 Peter 4:17 King James Version (KJV)
17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Proverbs 26:2 King James Version (KJV)
2 As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.

or to be more clear:

Proverbs 26:2 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
2 Like a flitting sparrow or a fluttering swallow,
an undeserved curse goes nowhere.

To be clear – we bring the curses upon ourselves…just as Adam and Eve did.
I even believe that it is NOT GOD that sends people to hell, but their choices. He has done everything that He could do to open the way! I want to make my choice JESUS!

I want God to fight for me, whatever the battle! Here is the promise:

John 10:28-30 King James Version (KJV)
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.

Here are the warnings:

Luke 9:26 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and that of the Father and the holy angels.

Matthew 10:33 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.

Here is our call!

Philippians 2:12 King James Version (KJV)
12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Our relationship with Jehovah/Yaweh Creator God is based on his son, Jesus.
Our relationship with Jesus Christ is a personal one.
It must be based on the Bible truths if we want to believe in the Bible blessings.
If we believe in the Bible Blessings, we must also believe in the Bible curses…the removal of blessings.


What Jesus has me do in the way of obedience may look different than what he asks you to do, but the basics for salvation are the same. Denying Christ is the key to not being with Christ.

Many have read John 3:16, but what about verses 17-18, or 19-20?

John 3:16-20 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
16 “For God loved the world in this way:[a] He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.

19 “This, then, is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and avoids it,[b] so that his deeds may not be exposed.

Wouldn’t it be awful to die and stand before Jesus and hear him say “depart from me, I never knew you”? I don’t want that for anyone!


I’m going to leave some links here so that you can make sure that you have a biblical basis for your profession of faith, and then, I encourage you to go back to the verses about being ashamed…denying…and robbing…as well as the basics of the 10 commandments, which I touched on in the previous Itty Bitty Bible Study – Nahum 1:2a.

My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

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