SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 01-02-2026
My
Worship Time Focus: PT-2
“Judgment Affirms God’s Plan”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Nahum
1:9-13
Message of the verses: “9 ¶
What do you conspire against the LORD? He will make an utter end of
it. Affliction will not rise up a second time. 10 For while tangled like thorns, And while drunken like drunkards, They will be devoured like stubble fully dry.
11 Out of you comes One who plots evil against the
LORD, A wicked counsellor. 12
Thus says the LORD:
“Though they are quiet and likewise many, Yet they will be cut down when he will pass
through. Though I have afflicted you, I
shall afflict you no more; 13 For now I
shall break off his yoke from you, And
burst your bonds apart.”
I continue to look at John MacArthur’s
commentary as he writes on these verses above.
“Though the city appeared to be an
impregnable fortress surrounded by water, God declared that Nineveh was like
tangled thorns, a reference to kindling and ready to ignite in fiery
destruction (cf. Isa. 9:18).”
(cf. Isa. 9:18)
“18 (9:17) For wickedness burns as a fire; It will devour the briers and
thorns, And kindles in the
thickets of the forest, And they will
mount up like lifting up smoke.”
“Though
Assyria had a cruel and formidable army, the Lord described them like those
who are drunken with their drink, incapable of defending themselves against
His attack. The violence and brutality
in which they had imbibed would become the very cup that God would make them
drink. In their defeat, they would be as
stubble fully dried up. Stubble, or
dry straw, is easily ignited, especially when it is fully dried up. The God who can mercifully lead sailors
to dry land (Jonah 1:13, 16), and who can dry the sea and the rivers (Nah.
1:4), can also make Nineveh like dry straw ready to be incarcerated.”
(Jonah 1:13, 16)
“13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to
the land, and they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous
against them.”
16 Then the men feared the LORD
exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.”
(Nah. 1:4)
“4 ג
He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
And dries up all the rivers. ד
Bashan and Carmel wither And the
flower of Lebanon wilts.”
“This
description was no hyperbole. Nineveh
was destroyed quickly, and the devastation was so extensive that the location
remained undiscovered until the nineteenth century. Benjamin of Tudela, a rabbi in the twelfth
century, observed that, ‘Nineveh now lies in utter ruins, but numerous villages
and small towns occupy its former space.’
Despite its military prowess, Nineveh was powerless to stop God’s plan
from being executed.
“Nahum further revealed that the
ruler of Nineveh would be overthrown.
This prediction was fulfilled in 612 BC, when Assyrian ruler was an opponent
of God. As Nahum declared of him, ‘From
you [Nineveh] has gone forth one who devised evil against Yahweh, a vile counselor.’ The king of Nineveh had gone forth
from the city as its commander. As the
entire city devised schemes against the Lord (Nah. 1:9), so its king was
the chief architect who devised evil against Yahweh.”
(Nah. 1:9)
“9 ¶ What do you conspire against the
LORD? He will make an
utter end of it. Affliction will not rise up a second time.”
“Thus,
Nahum referred to him as a vile counselor. Vile is the Hebrew term Belial, which
not only denotes egregious human wickedness but its also used in Scripture to
refer to Satan himself. In 2
Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote, ‘What harmony has Christ with Belial,’ using
Belial there to refer to the devil (2 Cor. 6:15). Nahum’s description indicated that the king
of Nineveh was satanic, leading his people into blasphemous idolatry, violence,
and gross iniquity. In calling him a vile counselor, the prophet even
depicted the ruler as an antichrist, contrasting him with Christ, the Wonderful
Counselor (Isa. 9:6; cf. 1 John 2:18).”
(Isa. 9:6; cf. 1 John 2:18)
“6 (9:5) For to us a Child is born, To us a Son is given, And the government will be upon his shoulder. And he will call his name Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
“18 ¶ Little children, it is the last hour;
and as you heard that the antichrist comes, even now many antichrists have
come, by which we know that it is the last hour.”
“Though so
depraved and defiant, the king of Nineveh would not escape divine
judgment. He would fall and be destroyed
with his city (Nah. 1:9-10), foreshadowing the destruction of the ultimate
Antichrist (cf. Rev. 19:20) and demonstrating that God’s purpose against evil
will not fail.”
(Nah. 1:9-10)
“9 ¶ What do you conspire against the
LORD? He will make an
utter end of it. Affliction will not rise up a second time. 10 For while tangled like thorns, And while drunken like drunkards, They will be devoured like stubble fully dry.”
(cf. Rev. 19:20)
“20 And the beast was captured, and with him the
false prophet who had performed miracles before him, by which he
deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and
worshipped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning
with brimstone.”
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life Today: I suppose that one of the themes in this
section is that surely your sins will find you out, and so it is best for me to
always be looking at my life in a way that if I sin that I will confess my sin
to the Lord, so that I can keep a clean slate before the Lord.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to be faithful to my Lord and to my
wife as she goes through her battle with cancer, doing what will help her to
win this battle.
1/2/2026
10:49 AM
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