Don't Wait Till It's Too Late

The Minor Prophets: Nahum
Insights I take from reading through the minor prophets

It's a little late to get out of this one ...

Jonah preached God's judgment on the wicked sins of the city of Nineveh. Because of their fear of the Lord, they repented and followed after God ... for a while. By the time we get to God's next prophet Nahum, Nineveh has gone back to its old ways and judgment is upon them again, only this time, its too late.  

Not gonna lie, in all of the minor prophets I've read so far, never has God been more angry. It's almost like He's angrier because He forgave Nineveh, and then they went back to what they were doing before. It's like saying to your 16-yr old daughter who just hit a car because she was texting, "I forgive you, just be more careful next time and don't text when you drive" and then she hits a car the next day because she was texting. You see that kind of anger in the Bible, this "I warned you!" anger. And its just brutal. It's starts off, "The Lord is a jealous God filled with vengeance and rage. He takes revenge on all who oppose Him ... and He never lets the guilty go unpunished ..." (Nahum 1:2-3). And it gets no better as you read on. At times, its almost like God is taunting Nineveh, like "What are you gonna do now?" Scripture says, "Where now is that 'great' Nineveh?" (Nahum 2:11).

Ultimately, I think Nahum 3:19 sums up God's judgment on Nineveh: "There is no healing for your wound; your injury is fatal." 

If that statement didn't stop people dead in their tracks, then certainly nothing would. Because, right there, God is being clear: There's no turning back. You had your chance. You blew it. Now you're done ... that's just incredibly frightening. I mean, can you imagine God saying to you, "I'm sorry, its too late to be forgiven, you had your chance, now you're done. It's too late ..."? That's crazy! Everything inside of us hopes, prays, and probably even assumes, that God will always forgive us.

I mean, Scripture says He will forgive us ... right?

• 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 

• Acts 2:21 says, "And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." It certainly seems like it God always forgives us ...

But Scripture also says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Mt 7:21).

• Scripture also says, "When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.  Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil ..." (Isaiah 1:15-16).  

• Scripture says,  "He will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'  Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?'  Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'  And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Mt 25)

Faith requires action. Repentant lips require a repentant heart. Forgiveness requires responsibility. Nineveh had been forgiven by God and they took that forgiveness for granted. And they figured that if they sinned again, God would just cover over their sins with a multitude of graces (1 Pet 4:8). But they would be wrong. Finally it was too late. And Assyria was at their doorstep. And had Assyria been their only enemy, God might have saved Nineveh from being destroyed. But they were destroyed not because Assyria was there enemy, but that God was (Nahum 2:13). God was their enemy, the Lord of Heaven's armies was their enemy. And by that time, there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.

It's the same for us. Jesus is all about forgiveness. He taught His own disciples to forgive abhorrent fools as much as it takes. As much as seventy times seven times (Mt 18:21-22) were they to forgive others. God is the same way. He will forgive us, always.

But there may come a time where we won't seek God's forgiveness, and like Nineveh, we will be destroyed. There may come a time, where we may seek God's forgiveness, but we will be dead, or Christ will have come back, and it will be too late (Lk 16:24-26). There will be no going back then.

Our lives are but a breath and our days our numbered (Psalm 39:4). And so are the days till Christ comes back to judge us all for what we've done. What will Jesus find when He returns? Will He find expectant, faithful followers with their candles lit? Or will He find us asleep and lazy to faith, and will we then miss out on everything that God has planned for us? (Mt 25:1-13). Nineveh came to the point where there was no turning back. There was no healing for their wound. Their injury was fatal, and God would make the final blow. It happened to Nineveh. It can happen to us. If we are living in sin, ignoring God's commands, and acting like fools, there is no telling if we might die the next day ... then where would we be? In Abraham's bosom, or the Devil's domain?

Don't wait till its too late to repent of your sins, be forgiven by God, and lead and live a Christ-like life again. Nineveh tried to wait it out in the book of Nahum, and they had a bitter end. God moved more swiftly and more unexpectedly than they could ever have imagined.

Don't wait till it's too late. If there is anything you are holding against God, it's time you let go. As the book of Nahum says, "Who can stand before the Lord's fierce anger? Who can survive His burning fury? His rage blazes forth like fire, and the mountains crumble to dust in His presence. Yet, the Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in Him." (Nahum 1:6-7).

Don't wait till it's too late.