I'm trying to understand...

I spent some time this morning reading from the book of Nahum. From this Old Testament minor prophet, I am learning about God's jealous avenging wrath, slowness to anger, great power, vengeance and goodness toward Nineveh, Israel, and the nations.

As I read this book, I see how the author goes back and forth between (1) telling of God's great anger and vengeance toward his enemies and (2) God's goodness and love for those who take refuge in Him.

There is a great truth to be seen here.

God is right in being jealous, angry, and avenging with a people that are full of evil. God extended mercy to Nineveh by allowing them to repent from their evil ways and turn to Him -- as seen in the book of Jonah, which was written some time between 783 B.C. to 772 B.C -- before turning away from him again and going back to their evil ways -- taking the ten northern tribes, Israel, captive in 722 B.C. Yet God was still slow to anger.

But Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire after 702 B.C., continued to do wicked and horrible things. Nahum 1:11 says, "From you came one who plotted evil against the LORD," giving depth to the idea that Nineveh was evil. No only did they act wickedly toward people and nations, they actually thought up new ways to be evil toward the One who had given them mercy and love.

The Lord is just in acting as he did toward Nineveh. In fact, if he did not act in this manner towards them, then he would be unjust. He could not allow such evil to continue, especially after being so patient and showing so much mercy towards them. He would be going against who He is if he allowed it to go on too long.

So, what is my point with all of this...am I talking about the world today?...am I talking about America?... am I talking about the church?...where am I going with this?

God is just. He will not allow injustice to go on for long. And just like in the case of Nineveh, He will pour out his wrath to put a stop to injustice. God will not apologize for ending injustice. In fact, Nahum shows us that he will go to great lengths to make a spectacle of those responsible for injustice. God poured out his wrath on Nineveh through the Babylonians. Nineveh was decimated in 612 B.C. by the armies of the Babylonians and Medes.

God's wrath will come against all injustice at some point. And God is just in bringing his wrath. He is perfect yet allows injustice and wrong doing to go unpunished for a time so that man might repent of evil and live for God.

I'm trying to understand what I need to do to stop injustice. Obviously, God cares about justice. He has taken action against it over and over again, and --each time -- he uses humans to carry out His plan. So, where do I start?

I am Nate and this is what I think is essential.