So this morning I was reading the Minor Prophet Nahum; reading his prophecy of Nineveh's destruction. As I was pondering this prophecy, I came up with a theory concerning the identification of the Lord's anger as the motivation for the crushing of Nineveh. In reality Nahum was just prophesying about Ninevah's coming destruction, and was foretelling that which would occur, the prophecy was accurate as far as the results, but I had some thougths about the motivation of God. A few possibilities, not necessarily opposing ideas, popped into my mind to explain the language of the prophet, in light of the revelation of Jesus.
1) This is a great example of the progressive revelation of scripture. Nahum has not seen God's great compassion and mercy, not understood the Father's heart toward sinners, and thus ascribed His anger to the reason they are being threatened. Is it possible that God was warning them, much the same as He did through Jonah? Is it possible that their impending doom was the consequences of their own warring ways, and not God's anger?
2) The prophecy is not really much different than some of the few New Testament prophecies we see, just adding God's emotions as cause, rather than just foretelling Nineveh's destruction.
A) See Acts 11:28 - Agabus' prophecy about a coming famine
B) See Acts 21:10-14 Agabus' prophecy to Paul, that He was going to be bound and handed over to the Gentiles.
In both of these instances, Luke does not include any emotions concerning God's anger, yet in the Old Testament language there would have likely been some commentary on God's anger, striking the Roman world with famine, or Paul's something (maybe disobeying the Spirit's warning). But, this side of the revelation of Jesus, concerning the heart of the Father, there is no such inclusion.
3) Nahum's prophecy can't really be read and understood, without also viewing God's warning to Nineveh in the Book of Jonah. God's purpose in warning them was for them to repent, not to destroy them. Here we have Jonah's angry statement to God, and God's response - Jonah 4:2, 11 NIV:
[2] He (Jonah) prayed to the Lord, “Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity."
God replied [11] "And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left---and also many animals?”
As I was writing this, I realized that more than ever we really need to read scripture backwards. We need to start with the revelation of Jesus, as He revealed to us exactly who the Father is, and what He is like. Once we have a firm grasp of the heart of the Father, then we can reread the Old Testament, and understand the writings through the filter of God's heart. The Father has never changed, never grown in His feelings, or become more in love, or more angry. He is unchanging (Heb 6:16-17) and He does not lie. If we look at Jesus, and understand that He would not have said something, then the Father wouldn't say it either, because Jesus was the exact representation of the Father (Heb 1:3).
Jesus did foretell of the coming destruction of the temple and Jerusalem (Matt 24 & Luke 21). He does not ascribe this coming destruction to the Father's anger, nor does He express anger with Jerusalem. In fact, He expresses compassion for Jerusalem in Matt 23:37. He effectively warns the people, and because of His warning and the warning of John, through The Book of Revelations, no Christian perished when Jerusalem was destroyed and more than a million Jews killed. Jesus says this destruction will happen to fulfill what was written (Luke 21:22). In other words, the prophecy was accurate, but He does not ascribe emotion or motivation to the Father, as the cause. Instead He says it is for Ekdikesis (a Greek word that meant justice served, or vengeance served for previous acts). One could almost translate this as consequences of your previous actions.
This subject is a complex subject and obviously requires more study and understanding. I am encouraged to dig deeper into the Word, working to understand the heart of the Father, the revelation of Jesus, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in regards to all this. The Father desires that we represent Him correctly to our fellow humans.
Lord, I pray that You would help me, for I desire to represent Your heart in all my ways.
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