Nahum I
The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. (Nahum 1:3 ESV)
But Who Is Guilty
I am not proud of the way I treated many substitute teachers in middle school. I knew that did not have real authority so I could disregard them. One in particular really wanted to be popular. And so, while he made many threats, he rarely followed through on them.
And so we did what we wanted, knowing nothing bad would happen to us.
Nahum declares that God means His threats. He will NOT, under any circumstances, by no means ignore guilt. The consequences of guilt are absolute, sure, and determined.
And guilt for sin means death. Not maybe death. Not even probably death. But absolute death.
But God’s grace and mercy are amazing.
Yes, He brought punishment for every guilty act.
But for His people, God instead punished Christ.
For those NOT His people, God follows through with the threat on the guilty themselves.
But for His people, God carries out that threat on His Son, our Savior, Christ Jesus.
Amazing….