August 1
2 Kings 23:1-20; 2 Chronicles 34:29-33; 2 Kings 23:21-28; 2 Chronicles 35:1-19; Nahum 1:1-3:19
Many don't care for days of readings like today. Today we read of a steady stream of judgment both to the Assyrians, specifically addressed to Ninevah, and to the people going through the tribulation in Revelation 8. But one must remember 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." The Lord doesn't simply zap us whenever we step out of line. He is merciful, full of grace, giving each of us time to repent. Before God gave the people of Israel their land, He mercifully allowed 400 years for the Amorites to repent (Genesis 15:13-16). The prophecy from Nahum concerning Ninevah begins 150 years earlier through the prophet Jonah, and God allowed another 100 years after Bahum’s words before destroying Ninevah, a total of 250 years. Realize, and meditate on the truth that God gives each of us a lifetime, however long that might be for each of us individually to repent, not desiring judgment to befall any of us. For He desires all to enter heaven, but He allows all on the earth to choose. God doesn't angrily throw people into hell, people choose to not repent, choose to go their own way, and their own way will lead them right into hell.
We read in Nahum 1:3, "The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet." Despite being all powerful, we must never miss the patience and love of our God who could, and has the right and ability to end our lives, our nation's existence, but allows us time. Right in the middle of all of this destruction don't miss the beautiful truth in 1:7, "The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him." Ninevah was eventually wiped out so completely that many rendered it a mythical city, until like everything else in Scripture, archaeology proved the bible right and the foundations were indeed found. People often state, how bad can things get? In the book of Revelation, already with 2 billion people killed from the seal judgments in Revelation 6, followed by a complete devastation to nature (the trees, the grass, the sea, the fresh water supply, and the celestial bodies) in Revelation 8, we read this warning which we should all take seriously in Revelation 8:13, "And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”"
We need to get our eyes on Him and off ourselves and off of the things of this world. Proverbs 30:7-9 gives us a good way to seek things, "Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die): Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches-Feed me with the food allotted to me; Lest I be full and deny You, And say, "Who is the Lord?" Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God." We should seek God, not riches, not earthly success, not popularity. So many of these "good" things will prove too tempting a lure away from God. He is merciful, seek Him today.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: