Nahum & Habakkuk
Similar Theme
Moving through the Old Testament, we now find ourselves looking at the two Minor Prophets Nahum and Habakkuk. Both of these prophets have very unique messages for God’s people that are wrapped up in very short letters. If you open your Bibles to these two books, it doesn’t take long to see why both of these books are considered minor, as they both only consist of three chapters. Nahum is a prophet who was sent to give word to Nineveh and Habakkuk is a prophet who is sent to warn of the coming Chaldeans. Now I know you’re probably thinking, ‘Didn’t we just go over Jonah who just spoke to the Ninevites?’ And of course, you’d be correct. The difference between these two prophets is the message that God has sent them to deliver. As Got Questions says, “Nahum did not write this book as a warning or “call to repentance” for the people of Nineveh. God had already sent them the prophet Jonah 150 years earlier with His promise of what would happen if they continued in their evil ways.” Habakkuk on the other hand is delivering a message that is all too familiar for Israel. He brings a message of judgment but through a different means that we have yet to see. God will use a nation like Babylon to bring hardship and suffering upon His people and Habakkuk’s response to all of this is a fascinating one. With all of that said, let’s see what these two have to offer.
I’ve Heard This Before…
To begin, Nahum opens his letter by expressing how great the Lord is through the visions that He has revealed to Him. This seems like an interesting way to begin a letter to a people group who are suffering but one thing God’s people can always see is that God is great in His mercy and God is also great in His wrath. So how does this letter exactly differ from Jonah’s? Why does God send another prophet to Nineveh some years later after initially telling Jonah that they would all be destroyed if they did not repent? The answer for this is unfortunately because the repentance didn’t last long. The people who had originally responded correctly to the Lord the first time when Jonah had come through have now all turned back to their evil, sinful ways. This is why the last two chapter titles in this book are ‘The Overthrow of Nineveh’ and ‘Nineveh’s Complete Ruin’. Nineveh’s time to repent has run out. And what’s worse, they got clear instructions from Jonah years prior as to what would happen to them and they ignored God’s warning. Look at the harsh language God uses in Nahum 3:19 “There is no relief for your collapse, Your wound is incurable. All who hear about you Will clap their hands over you, For upon whom has your evil not come continually?” God’s grace and mercy will not be mocked or abused. Those who hear the warning of God and choose to ignore it are worse off than those who receive no warning at all. When nations hear God’s warning and are extended mercy that they don’t deserve and yet they still refuse it, God will unleash the full punishment that they deserve. This is not the follow-up letter you hope to see written to the people of Nineveh but if there is one vital aspect of this story that we can walk away with it’s that every day that God gives us to live is a true act of mercy. For nations to know the truth of who God is and how we have all fallen short of His standards time and time again and yet still be alive is nothing short of God’s great mercy on display in our lives. How many nations in the world today are abusing God’s grace and running short of time to turn and repent? It’s time we learn from the nation of Nineveh and turn back to the Lord before it’s too late.
Using Evil For Good
Another sorrowful example of God’s mercy being rejected is in the book of Habakkuk. The Lord calls Habakkuk to warn the nation of Judah of a coming punishment from the Chaldeans. As stated earlier, this nation is comparable to Babylon. This means that God is not calling the Chaldeans as a holy people to bring a righteous discipline to the nation of Judah, but rather the Chaldeans are an unrighteous people that God will allow to bring evil to the nation of Judah since this is the outcome of their sins anyway. Look at what Habakkuk 1:6-7 says, “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That grim and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth, To take possession of dwelling places that are not theirs. “They are terrifying and feared; Their justice and authority originate with themselves.” Notice the end of this verse. ‘Their justice and authority originate with themselves’. In other words, their standard for justice and authority didn’t come from God or any other higher power. Their idea of justice was whatever they thought was right that day. There was no rule for right and wrong according to these people. The only rule they followed was to do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted to do it.
And yet, even when Judah is about to embark on such an evil path, look at what God reminds Habakkuk and the land of Judah of. Habakkuk 3:17-19 tells us “Even if the fig tree does not blossom, And there is no fruit on the vines, If the yield of the olive fails, And the fields produce no food, Even if the flock disappears from the fold, And there are no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will triumph in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like deer’s feet, And has me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.” God reminds Habakkuk in chapter two that He is still in control of all and this leads Habakkuk to find strength and peace in the fact that God is still his salvation and the salvation of the world. These two minor prophets go so well together because of the overall principle they teach us. Nahum shows us that God is just and will not have His grace abused or mocked and Habakkuk shows us that even if we live in a nation that does abuse God’s grace, God is still the answer to our salvation. Yes, God’s justice may be over our nation at any given point, but no matter what hardship comes our way, we can rest in the fact that the gospel is still our salvation and our Lord can still use us to lead His lost sheep back home.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Amos. (n.d.). [Video]. BibleProject. https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/amos/
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