April 21 – For Whom Wrath is Reserved

“A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies.” - Nahum 1:2.” (NASB)

Again today, we find God’s promises in one of the Minor Prophets. Most of the promises we ponder are promises of blessings from God for us, His own people. Today’s promise is not like those. God has promises for those who by faith believe in Him. He also has promises which are warnings of judgment and wrath for those who do not believe. Those who refuse to believe remain the enemies of God. Nineveh, an ancient city full of wickedness and evil, was the capital of the Assyrian Empire during the period of Assyrian dominance throughout the ancient Near East. God instructed the prophet Jonah to go and preach to the inhabitants of Nineveh. He first refused, but eventually obeyed and the people of Nineveh repented. But by the time of Nahum’s prophecy, a century later, they had returned to wickedness. Nahum’s ‘oracle,’ as it is called, prophesied the city’s destruction by Babylon. Here is the promise God gives Nahum: “The LORD is an avenging God.” Those who remain enemies of God will meet the wrath of God for it is reserved for those who reject to the end the call of God, to repentance and faith in God.

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December 12 – Feeble Hands, Shaky Knees

“Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” Isaiah 35: 3-4 (NASB)

We have looked in the past and considered the promise of our eternal source of encouragement and today's verse shows us a way we are encouraged. These words are interesting because they mention exhausted and feeble knees that give way. The ‘exhausted’ are those with slack hands not from lack of work but from much work the hands give out. The ‘feeble’ are those with tottering knees.  They have become worn out and need new energy.  But it is also clear that weak hands and shaky knees are caused by fearful hearts. So, what the Lord promises us is that He will come and He will strengthen our hearts so that we do not need to fear. When we trust him to help us not fear, that will make our hands and our knees strong. When we have needs like this in our lives our God is aware of them and He promises to come to help us. If we know that God will respond in this way, it encourages us to depend on Him and press on. He will supply whatever we need for whatever is ahead in our path.

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July 16 – Leaving It To Him

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”  -Romans 12:19  (ESV)

We are considering again the action of revenge or vengeance. Getting even. Paying someone back. Any of many codes of conduct held by many who believe that we are to watch out for ourselves. God promises in our verse that the job of getting even, paying back a nasty deed is His job.  This promise answers one of the most powerful impulses behind anger — an impulse that is not entirely wrong. In many cases, real wrongs are done to us. Therefore, it is not entirely wrong to feel that justice should be done. What we need to avoid is to feel that we must make it happen and that we may feel bitter until we get that justice. “No justice, no peace,” is much more than a chant of the protesters’ march mantra. The grace of God’s judgment is our promise here in Romans 12. It’s a means of helping us overcome a deadly spirit of revenge and bitterness. This promise frees us from an unforgiving, bitter, vengeful spirit. It is the promise that God will settle our accounts. “I will repay, says the Lord.” We can back off and leave room for God to do His perfect work.

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