SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 01-07-2026
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-2“Judgement
Affirms God’s Promises”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Nahum
1:14
Message
of the verses: “14 And the LORD has given a command
concerning you, “Your name will be
perpetuated no more. Out of the
house of your gods, I shall cut off The
carved image and the moulded image.
I shall make your grave, for you are vile.”
This morning we continue to look at a new section from John MacArthur’s
commentary on chapter one and verse fourteen from the book of Nahum.
“The
death of Nineveh’s ruler also confirmed God’s promise to judge idolatry, for
the Lord declared, ‘From the house of your gods, I will cut off graven image
and molten image.’ Just as the lofty
reputation of the Ninevites would not continue, neither would their false
religion survive. The house of your
gods refers to the pagan temple, which would have been filled with many
images of the deities that the Ninevites worshiped. Ashur was the patron god, and Ishtar, the
goddess of love and war, was the patron goddess. Nabu was the god of scribes and writing. Nergal was the god of the underworld. Tiamat was the sea goddess. There were also Marduk, Enlil, Ninlil,
Nisroh, and other deities. The king’s
life revolved around these many pagan deities which he worshiped as his (your)
gods (cf. 2 Kings19:36-37; Isa. 37:37-38).”
(cf.
2 Kings19:36-37; Isa. 37:37-38).
“36 So Sennacherib the king of Assyria
departed and went and returned and lived at Nineveh. 37 And it came to pass, as he was
worshipping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech
and Sharezer struck him with the sword, and they escaped into the
land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.”
“37 So Sennacherib the king of Assyria
departed and went and returned and stayed at Nineveh. 38 And it came to pass, as he was
worshipping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and
Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword, and they escaped into
the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.”
But they would all be eliminated, for as the Lord decreed,
I will cut off graven image and molten image.’ A molten image described an idol
cast in metal (cf. Exodus 32:4; 2 Kings 17:16; Isaiah 42:17).”
(cf.
Exodus 32:4; 2 Kings 17:16; Isaiah 42:17)
“4 And he received the gold from their
hand, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and he made it into a
moulded calf. And they said, “This is your god, oh Israel, who
brought you out of the land of Egypt!’”
“16 And they left all the commandments of the
LORD their God, and made for themselves a moulded image of two
calves, and made a sacred grove and worshipped all the host of
heaven, and served Baal.”
“17 They will be turned back, They will be ashamed with shame, Who trust in carved images, Who say to the moulded images, ‘You are our gods.’”
“In His judgment of Nineveh and the king of Nineveh,
God would cut off and hew to pieces every expression of idolatry in the
city (cf. Deut. 7:5; 12:3; 27:15).”
(cf.
Deut. 7:5; 12:3; 27:15)
“5 But thus you shall surely deal with them: you
shall destroy their altars and break in pieces their sacred pillars and cut
down their sacred groves and burn their carved images with fire.”
“3 And you shall break down their altars, and
break their sacred pillars, and burn their sacred groves with fire, and cut
down the carved images of their gods and shall destroy their names from
that place.”
“15 ‘Cursed is the man who makes a
carved or moulded image, an abomination to the LORD, the
work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in a
secret place.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’”
“Nineveh’s coming destruction was a powerful expression
of God’s wrath against idolatry.”
Now as
I think of Idolatry in the life of the children of Israel they did not have a
problem with it after the Lord brought them back into the land of Israel, for
because of living in the land of Babylon for those 70 years they were taught
that bowing down to idols was not something that was pleasing to the Lord. Now what about today? Well as believers in Jesus Christ we can
still have idols in our lives, not the kind like is mentioned in this Spiritual
Diary, but things like work can be an idol as it can keep you from truly
worshiping the Lord. So anything that
can be put ahead of worshiping the Lord can be considered an idol, so we have
to check ourselves, allowing the Holy Spirit of God to search our hearts in
order to confess anything that comes before our worship of the Lord.
Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today: Make sure that there are no idols
in my life that can keep me from my worship of the Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Earlier this morning I went over
the last verse in Psalm 133 which I wrote in late 2012 and I want to add what I
wrote in that SD, as it was meaningful to me this morning. “Is it not just like God to
bring me to a passage that I was in great need to study because of things that
have been going on in my life. I certainly need the refreshment of
the Holy Spirit like the plants need the refreshment from the dew and the
Spirit of God is the Person in the trinity to bring that about in my
life. I praise the Lord for this.”
From Dr. Jeremiah’s “Turning Point’s Wisdom” “WORDS ARE THINGS; AND A SMALL DROP OF INK
FALLING LIKE DEW UPON A THOUGHT, PRODUCES THAT WHICH MAKES THOUSANDS, PERHAPS
MILLIONS, THINK. Lord Byron.
“A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word
spoken in due season, how good it is! (Proverbs 15:23).”
1/7/2026 8:42 AM
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