Calvary Road Baptist Church
“JUDGMENT
DELAYED IS NOT JUDGMENT FORGOTTEN”
Nahum
1.3
In
Romans 15.4 we find these words: “For
whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we
through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” This morning I want
you, by observing God’s dealings with an ancient and wicked city, to learn
something about the God with whom we have to do.[1] Turn
in your Bible to the book of Jonah. I read Jonah 1.1-2:
1 Now the word of the LORD
came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against
it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
About
760 years before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and about 35 years before the
Assyrians would conquer and carry off into captivity the population of the
northern kingdom of Israel, the prophet Jonah was commanded by God to go and
cry against the wicked city of Nineveh. But instead of immediately obeying God,
we all remember Jonah’s futile attempt to flee from the presence of the LORD, which ended with his
experience of being swallowed by the great fish and being in its belly for three
days and three nights. Let us not for one moment deny the importance of that experience
of Jonah, which was later used by the Lord Jesus Christ to teach about His Own
resurrection from the dead. But as we remember Jonah’s three days and three nights
in the belly of the great fish, let us also remember what else the book of Jonah
teaches. When Jonah finally did follow the LORD’s instructions, what happened? Jonah 3.4-10:
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey,
and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a
fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of
them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from
his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with
sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published
through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither
man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink
water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry
mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the
violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn
away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And
God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of
the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it
not.
What we find out in
this passage that we have just read is that God is merciful and gracious. But have
you also missed what many miss who read this passage? Jonah did not promise the
people anything. There is no record of God directing Jonah to promise the people
anything. The only message he preached was that in 40 days God’s judgment was going
to fall. Those people were not given guarantee that if they turned from their
evil way God would spare them. But He did spare them when they turned from
their evil way. And, surprisingly, it was for just this reason that Jonah had
earlier fled from God. Turn to Jonah 4.1-2:
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very
angry.
2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when
I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that
thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
In other words, Jonah
disapproved of God’s willingness to delay judgment. He was enough of an
observer of geopolitics to know that Assyria was a rising pagan power in the region.
And even if God did not give him prophetic revelation concerning the future assaults
by Assyria against Israel and against Judah, he was smart enough to figure out
what was coming eventually on his own. So, what do we have so far? We have God
graciously saving Jonah’s life when he was thrown overboard by sailors at sea. We
have God graciously giving Jonah a second chance to serve Him. And we have God
graciously sending a prophet to a pagan city to preach repentance. The result? The
entire city responded to Jonah’s warning, which is what angered Jonah. Imagine!
A prophet actually grousing because God showed Himself to be slow to anger,
gracious, and merciful. And God graciously delayed His judgment against
Nineveh.
But
another generation passed. Life spans were generally much shorter in those days.
Those who had repented in Nineveh have by now died and been replaced at every
level of society by a new generation. To the west of Nineveh, the northern
kingdom of Israel slides ever deeper into the abyss of spiritual apostasy. God then
used the Assyrians to punish His people Israel. But Assyrian ruthlessness and cruelty
went way beyond what was necessary to accomplish God’s purpose. So when they laid
siege to Jerusalem another generation later, and good King Hezekiah pleaded with
God for Judah’s deliverance, the angel of the LORD killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers as they
slept, thereby delivering Jerusalem from the Assyrian juggernaut.[2]
When the surviving Assyrian forces limped back to Nineveh the king, named Sennacherib,
was killed by his own sons while worshipping his false god.[3] But several
capable kings later reigned over the empire and Assyria’s power, having
recovered from the slaying of those 185,000 soldiers by the angel of the LORD, continued to grow
without serious interruption. By now Nineveh, Assyria’s capital city, has fully
returned to the idolatry, the violence, and the arrogance she had repented of a
century earlier under Jonah’s preaching. With a supposedly impassible moat that
was 150 wide and 60 feet deep surrounding the city, Nineveh thought herself to be
invulnerable. But God raised up the prophet Nahum to first declare the
destruction of Nineveh in advance, then to describe the destruction of Nineveh
in advance, and finally to demand the destruction of Nineveh.
An
interesting side note to this unfolding saga of the great and wicked city of Nineveh
is the fact that although God did send Jonah into the city to cry against the wickedness,
there is no record that the Ninevites were ever informed of Nahum’s message of doom
against the city. Meaning? God is under no obligation to forewarn the wicked of
their destruction.
From
this look at God’s dealings with the city of Nineveh there are two things we
can focus on seeing. We can either focus on seeing the nature of man illustrated,
or we can focus on seeing the nature of God illustrated. Concerning man, we see
acted out over about a century’s time a principle that applies with empires, with
men, and also with children. Solomon said it best in Ecclesiastes 8.11:
“Because sentence
against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of
men is fully set in them to do evil.”
If judgment doesn’t fall
right away sinful men think they’ve gotten away with their wrongdoing.
That
said, this morning’s message will instead be about God. So it’s the nature of God
illustrated that we are concerned about. Why was God’s judgment so long in coming
to Nineveh? When the Tigris River flooded, eroding away a portion of Nineveh’s defenses
and leaving the city vulnerable to Babylonian attack and utter annihilation,
its location hidden for more than 2,400 years, what does that illustrate to us
about the nature of God? Nahum stated the matter succinctly in Nahum 1.3:
“The LORD is slow to
anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked.”
Whether it be an empire,
a great city, a powerful man, or an ordinary run of the mill sinner, it would do
you well to remember that
“The LORD is slow to anger,
and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked.”
“Because sentence
against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons
of men is fully set in them to do evil.”
We saw that statement
in Ecclesiastes 8.11. And is it not true of every man you have ever known? Do something
wrong. Feel bad about it for a while, primarily because you are fearful of
discovery and fearful of punishment. But then, with the passing of time, you
think to yourself, “It’s okay. I got away with it.”
Whether
it be stealing money from your mother’s purse, ripping off your dad, stealing
tools or time from your boss at work, cheating on your husband or wife, taking
money out of another kid’s back pack at school, or petting and fornicating with
a boyfriend or girlfriend, do not be so foolish as to think you got away with it
just because your boss, or your wife, or your parents, or your teacher, or the
police, or the pastor never found out about it. And do not think that being discovered
by husband or wife or mom or dad or boss or teacher, and thereby being somewhat
embarrassed or punished, is the judgment which shall befall you. Oh, no. There
is so much more to this matter of judgment than that. In Hebrews 4.12 is found a
verse of scripture which many of you are familiar with, having heard it quoted so
many times, and perhaps even having memorized it yourself for Sunday School or
in the Christian school:
“For the word of God is
quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is
a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
But the prominence of
that verse in our thinking has overshadowed another verse, which looms significant
for our purpose today, speaking not of the Word of God, but of the God of the
Word. Hebrews 4.13:
“Neither is there any
creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and
opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
My
friends, it is a relatively unimportant thing to sin against some other person
and then to be discovered by that other person, and then to be punished or embarrassed
for that offense. As bad as being expelled from school, or being fired from a job,
or being prosecuted for a crime, or being divorced for unfaithfulness, or being
spanked by a parent may seem at the moment to be, this is not the judgment about
which I preach to you. There is a God with whom we have to do. And sins, all sins,
every sin, ultimately is an act of defiance and rebellion against Him, a
display of animosity against Him. And all things are naked and opened to His eyes.
So, even if your mother or wife or boss or teacher or pastor never finds out
what you did, God knows. God knows. Because all things are naked and opened to
His eyes.
“Because sentence against
an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is
fully set in them to do evil.”
So, do not think you got
away with anything. Do not think there is not a payday someday. Do not make the
tragic mistake of the Ninevites who, once spared by God, got it into their
thinking that because judgment had not fallen that therefore judgment would not
fall. Because judgment did fall. But it fell unexpectedly.
The
Ninevites mistakenly thought that judgment delayed was judgment forgotten. But judgment
delayed is not judgment forgotten, because of three things about the God with Whom
we have to do in today’s text, Nahum 1.3:
First, THE LORD IS
SLOW TO ANGER
There are two comments
I would like to make about the slowness of the LORD to anger:
The
first comment has to do with slowness. Psalm 103.8 declares that God is slow to
anger. So does Psalm 145.8. Joel 2.13, and numerous other passages in the
Hebrew scriptures also describe the LORD as “slow to anger.” But what does it actually
mean to be “slow to anger?” In James 1.19 we find Christians encouraged to be “swift
to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath,” with wrath there meaning the same thing
as anger. It turns out that the Hebrew word for “slow” literally refers to the length
of something.[4]
So, a long stick or a long time, the same word is used. Therefore, a
characteristic of God, and one born out by examining all of God’s dealings with
men, is that His anger builds slowly, gradually, and inevitably over time. We do
not have to do with a God Who has quick flashes of temper. We do not have to do
with a God Who erupts in a spasm of rage a moment after He is sinned against. No,
we have to do with One Who is slow to anger.
My
second comment has to do with the fact that God does become angry. What a cruel
lie has been foisted upon the people by Pentecostals, by Charismatics, and by the
new evangelicals who are sent forth by Fuller Seminary in Pasadena. How wicked
it is. How deceitful. And what judgment will fall on them from God for their
nasty distortions. They tell sinners that God loves them. They always tell sinners
that God loves them. Ever do they tell sinners that God loves them. But the
distortion, and the deceit, and the wickedness of their lies has to do with the
truth about God they refuse to tell the people. They refuse to tell the people
that God is angry with them. Let it not be denied, my friend, that God is slow
to anger. It is the slowness of God to anger which allows for His long suffering
patience in the face of sin. It is the slowness of God to anger which gives sinners
space to turn from their sins. But neither let it be denied that God is angry
at your sins. You see, God is holy. And you are wicked. And when you express
your wickedness, when you commit your sins, such sins as missing church and working
on Sunday in the pursuit of your false god of money instead of worshiping God,
He is offended by your sins against Him. You dishonor Him when you do not love Him
as He deserves to be loved and worshipped as He deserves to be worshipped. And
when God is in this way outraged He becomes angry. Oh, how angry He becomes. For
that reason “It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God,”
Hebrews 10.31. And His anger is directed toward you. “But God has not judged
me, pastor. I am successful in business and my family is happy.” That is because
God is slow to anger, not because God is happy with you. God is happy with no man
who sins against Him. His anger grows each day toward that man who misses church
and that woman who does not love Him. So, do not think that because God has not
judged you, because God has not rushed to punish you, that He is not angry with
you. He is very angry with you. But His anger grows slowly.
Second, THE LORD IS
GREAT IN POWER
Consider
the greatness Of God’s power. Job tells us that God is mighty in strength, and
that He is able if He chooses to remove mountains, shake the earth out of
place, and command the sun to not rise. In Job 9 we are reminded that it was God
Who spread out the heavens and Who sealed up the stars. In that chapter we are
also asked, What could you do to stop God if He withdraws not His anger? In
Psalm 62.11 we read these words: “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard
this; that power belongeth unto God.” How many times does a sinner have to
be told that only God is truly strong, only God is truly powerful, only God is
truly mighty, and only God is Almighty? Listen to these words from a song the
Israelites used to sing; Psalm 66.3:
“through the
greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.”
And in Psalm 147 we
see these words about God’s power and how impressed He is with your power:
5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his
understanding is infinite.
6 The LORD
lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing unto the LORD
with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain
for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
9 He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young
ravens which cry.
10 He
delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs
of a man.
11 The
LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear
him, in those that hope in his mercy.
God is not impressed with
how big you think you are. He is not awed by how powerful you think you are. Do
you consider yourself to be physically powerful? God is not impressed. He is so
powerful that He will cast you down, and you cannot resist Him.
But
let us ask why it was that Nahum speaks here of the greatness of God’s power? Because
sinners must be reminded that God is powerful. Sinners tend to forget that God is
powerful. Sinners convince themselves that they are powerful, and they are
wrong. How many times had Pharaoh seen God’s miraculous plagues upon the
Egyptians, yet still he was deluded into thinking he was strong enough to
resist God? And consider Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians. God had given
Daniel the understanding of his dreams. And Nebuchadnezzar had with his own
eyes seen the three Hebrews delivered from the fiery furnace.[5]
Yet when Daniel warned him not to be lifted up with pride he ignored the warning
and felt himself to be a great and powerful man, able to withstand God. Only when
he went insane and behaved like a beast of the field was his lesson learned.[6]
My friend, you sin and sin and sin and sin. You live a wild and wicked life that
has little or no regard for God. You are corrupted by greed and lust and pride.
And you think yourself to be big and bad and tough and smart and strong. But you
are nothing before God. You are only moist clay in the Potter’s hands. What kind
of vessel has the Potter made you to be? Are you a vessel unto honor or a
vessel unto dishonor? Will you be one who sings with the heavenly choir, “Thou are
worthy O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power?” Or will you be one of those
who is cast into the furnace to howl in agony as an object to display His power
in wrath for all eternity?
SLOW TO ANGER, GREAT
IN POWER. FINALLY, THE LORD WILL NOT AT ALL ACQUIT THE WICKED.
I
know what some of you are thinking. Some of you are thinking, “I will sin and
rebel and do wrong until I decide to get saved. Then I will accept Jesus and my
sins will be forgiven and I won’t have to go to Hell.” You don’t understand. It
doesn’t work that way. Read the verse again. That third phrase reads, “will not
at all acquit the wicked.” I don’t know how you read the Bible,
but “will not at all” to me means “will not at all.” In Hebrew this literally
means “will not hold innocent.”[7]
And how entirely consistent with God’s nature this is. Remember, Titus 1.2 is
only one of the verses which declares God’s truthfulness, saying “God, that
cannot lie.” You see, God’s Own nature prohibits Him from treating you as
innocent. Why? Because you are guilty. God must treat the guilty as if they are
guilty because they are guilty. So, you have to be treated by God as guilty . .
. because you are guilty. You are wicked. You are sinful. You are rebellious. You
do not love Him. You do not worship Him. You do not serve Him. Yet you think
you will somehow be saved someday.
Let
me tell you why you think this way: You are not truly convinced you are wicked.
Oh, you think you see yourself as sinful. You think that because you have a
guilty conscience from time to time that you perceive the depths of your
wickedness before God. But, my friend, you have no idea. You see yourself as a
person who has made mistakes, who has a difference of opinion, who has his own ideas
about things, who has a right to have fun, who thinks what you do and what you
are is reasonable. But this is not the truth. This is a lie. What you are is evil.
What you are is contaminated. What you are is rotten and defiled and smelly. What
you are is God’s sworn enemy. What you are is a person who hates God because you
do not love God. What you are is a person who deserves to be punished by God
and who deserves nothing beyond that.
I
cannot tell you everything about God this morning. But what I have told you about
God is what those out there will not tell you about Him. I tell you what is in the
Bible. And since God does not change, what we have learned about God is still true.
God is slow to anger. God is great in power. And God will not at all acquit the
wicked. Furthermore, you are very, very wicked this morning. How do I know? It used
to bother you that God was angry with you. It used to bother you that God was great
in power. It used to bother you that you were wicked. But now that you are very,
very wicked, now that your heart is so much more callused, now that you are so
much more adept at scheming and conniving and getting your own way, such statements
do not alarm you.
“Don’t
you have anything positive to say?” Go home and read your Bible. Look up those preachers
in God’s Word who preached positive messages, who minimized the wickedness of
the people, who glossed over the wrong done to God, who portrayed God as One Who
is not holy, Who is not angry, Who will not pour out His wrath. You will find that
every one of them is a false prophet. Every single one of them.
This
is the message you need to hear this morning. This is the message from God’s
Word that will awaken you out of your lethargy, will rouse you from your
slumber. This is the one which describes for you the God with whom you have to
do. And when you leave this auditorium in your smug complacency I pray that God
will trouble you. I pray that the Holy Spirit will convict you. Understand, as
you go, that judgment delayed is not judgment forgotten.
[1] Hebrews 4.13
[2] Isaiah 37.36
[3] Isaiah 37.37-38
[4] Francis Brown, S. R. Driver & Charles A. Briggs, The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew And English Lexicon, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1979), page 74.
[5] Daniel 3.19-30
[6] Daniel 4
[7] Brown, Driver & Briggs, page 667.
Question? Comment?
Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Fill out the form below to send him an email. Thank you.