Nahum 1:1-15: a reflection

1A revelation about Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 2The LORD is a jealous God and avenges. The LORD avenges and is full of wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he maintains wrath against his enemies. 3The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. The LORD has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel languish. The flower of Lebanon languishes. 5The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it. 6Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him. 7The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in him. 8But with an overflowing flood, he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness. 9What do you plot against the LORD? He will make a full end. Affliction won’t rise up the second time. 10For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly like dry stubble. 11One has gone out of you who devises evil against the LORD, who counsels wickedness. 12The LORD says: “Though they are in full strength and likewise many, even so they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. 13Now I will break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds apart.” 14The LORD has commanded concerning you: “No more descendants will bear your name. Out of the house of your gods, I will cut off the engraved image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile.” 15Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, Judah! Perform your vows, for the wicked one will no more pass through you. He is utterly cut off.

Nahum's prophecy against Nineveh is full of the terror of God's justice: the LORD is slow to anger but strong, and will not leave the guilty unpunished; the mountains quake before him, the hills melt, the earth heaves. Who can stand before his indignation? It is a fearsome portrait of a God whom the guilty cannot escape. And then, right in the middle of it, comes a verse of startling tenderness: the LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in him.

Notice how the two sit together. The same God who is terrible in judgment against his enemies is good, a stronghold, a refuge for those who trust him. His justice and his goodness are not opposites; they are two faces of the same holy God. And notice the intimacy of that verse: he knows those who take refuge in him. Not merely tolerates them, or is aware of them, but knows them, personally, the way you know those you love and protect.

That is a steadying truth for anyone in the day of trouble. The God whose justice is fearsome is, to those who take refuge in him, a stronghold and a good and knowing protector. His strength, so terrifying to his enemies, is your fortress. When trouble comes, you do not run from this God; you run to him. He is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knows, personally and tenderly, everyone who takes refuge in him. Take refuge there. And notice how the chapter ends, with the feet of one bringing good news of peace. Behind the judgment is a God who is good to those who trust him.

Lord, you are fearsome in justice, yet to those who take refuge in you, you are good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and you know them personally and tenderly. When trouble comes, help me run not from you but to you. Be my refuge and my fortress, and let me be one of those you know, who takes shelter in you.