Passage
Nahum 1:1-15 (ESV)
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
Acts 8:26-40
Key Verse: 8:35
Good News in Bad Times
Date: Oct. 20, 2014
Daily Bread
Introduction to Nahum
Key Verse: 1:15
First, the Lord is avenging and wrathful (1-11). Nahum opened his prophecy with a dramatic statement of God's character and power. Although Nineveh had repented at the preaching of Jonah, she later returned to her idolatrous and violent ways. Now God would bring judgment upon her. He would make a complete end of the city, and nothing that they devised would be able to thwart the Lord's plans.
Second, good news from the mountains (12-15). In judging Nineveh, God would also deliver his people. Although the Lord had used the Assyrians as instruments of judgment, that time was coming to an end as God would break the yoke that had bound Israel. Yet, Nahum's prophecy of deliverance looks even further than that. It points to the time when messengers of the gospel would announce the good news of deliverance from the power of sin through Jesus Christ for all people.
Prayer: Lord, let us be ever mindful of your judgment and power, and to take our sin seriously and repent. And we thank you for giving us the good news of Jesus Christ, forgiveness of all our sins.
One Word: There is good news even in bad times
