1. Nahum: Your God is Too Small
Pastor Nathan Weller
May 27, 2018
Series: Not a Minor Prophet

3. “On the opening day of my class on Jesus of Nazareth,
I give a standardized psychological test divided into two parts. The results are nothing short of astounding.
The first part is about Jesus. It asks students to imagine
Jesus' personality, with questions such as, "Does he prefer
to go his own way rather than act by the rules?" and "Is he
a worrier?" The second part asks the same questions of
the students, but instead of "Is he a worrier?" it asks, "Are
you a worrier?" The test is not about right or wrong answers, nor is it designed to help students... (cont’d)

4. ...understand Jesus. Instead, if given to enough people,
the test will reveal that we all think Jesus is like us. Introverts think Jesus is introverted, for example, and, on the basis
of the same questions, extroverts think Jesus is extroverted.
Spiritual formation experts would love to hear that students
in my Jesus class are becoming like Jesus, but the test actually reveals the reverse: Students are fashioning Jesus
to be more like themselves. If the test were given to a random sample of adults, the results would be measurably similar.
To one degree or another, we all conform... (cont’)

5. ...Jesus to our own image. Since we are pushing this
point, let's not forget historical Jesus scholars, whose academic goal is to study the records, set the evidence in historical context, render judgment about the value of the evidence, and compose a portrait of "what Jesus was
really like." They, too, have ended up making Jesus in their own image.”
-Scot McKnight, The Jesus We’ll Never Know-

7. If there is anything you’re facing which makes you hopeless
then your god is too small

9. 1 An oracle concerning Nineveh
1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
2 The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and keeps wrath for his enemies.
3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry... (cont’d)
--Nahum ESV

10. --Nahum 1.1-6 ESV ...he dries up all the rivers;
Bashan and Carmel wither;
the bloom of Lebanon withers.
5 The mountains quake before him;
the hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
the world and all who dwell in it.
6 Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.
--Nahum ESV

12. The Lord is great
in power!

14. --Nahum 1.3b-5 ESV 3b His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
he dries up all the rivers;
Bashan and Carmel wither;
the bloom of Lebanon withers.
5 The mountains quake before him;
the hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
the world and all who dwell in it.
--Nahum 1.3b-5 ESV

16. “Great things to us are little things to God.”
-Charles Spurgeon-

18. What great things clouds are to us! There we see them
moving through the skies! Then they rapidly increase till the whole sky turns black and a dark shadow is cast upon the world; we foresee the coming storm, and we tremble at the mountains of cloud, for they are great. Are they truly great things? No, they are only the dust of God’s feet. The greatest cloud that ever swept the face of the sky, was but one single particle of dust stirred up by the feet of the Almighty Jehovah. When clouds roll over clouds and the storm is very terrible... (cont’d)

19. be our Judge. Consider that the greatest things with man are
...it is but the chariot of God, as it speeds along the heavens, raising a little dust around him! “The clouds are the dust of his feet.” Oh! can you grasp this idea my friends, or had I words
in which to put it into your souls, I am sure you would sit down in solemn awe of that great God who is our Father, or who will
be our Judge. Consider that the greatest things with man are
little things with God.
-Charles Spurgeon-

21. --Nahum 1:6 ESV Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.
--Nahum 1:6 ESV

23. --Psalm 98.4-9 NIV 4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
shout for joy before the Lord, the King.
7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
9 let them sing before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.
--Psalm NIV

25. The Lord is good

27. --Nahum 1.7-13 ESV 7 The Lord is good,
a stronghold in the day of trouble;
he knows those who take refuge in him.
8 But with an overflowing flood
he will make a complete end of the adversaries,
and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
9 What do you plot against the Lord?
He will make a complete end;
trouble will not rise up a second time.
10 For they are like entangled thorns,
like drunkards as they drink (cont’d)
--Nahum ESV

28. --Nahum 1.7-13 ESV ...they are consumed like stubble fully dried.
11 From you came one
who plotted evil against the Lord,
a worthless counselor.
12 Thus says the Lord,
“Though they are at full strength and many,
they will be cut down and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.
13 And now I will break his yoke from off you
and will burst your bonds apart.”
--Nahum ESV

30. Q. What do you understand by the providence of God?
A. The almighty and ever present power of God by which
God upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and
all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty—all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but by his fatherly hand.

32. -New York Times, “Who Would Jesus Smack Down?”-
In a NYT 2009 profile of Calvinism one of the individuals interviewed, who was member of a church not unlike this one, made a very profound observation: “Traditional evangelical theology falls part in the face of real tragedy, says the 20 year old Brett Harris...Reducing God to a projection of our own wishes trivializes divine sovereignty and fails to explain how both good and evil have a place in the divine plan. ‘There are plenty of comfortable people who can say, ‘God’s on my side’ Harris says, ‘But they couldn’t turn around and say, ‘God gave me cancer.’”
-New York Times, “Who Would Jesus Smack Down?”-

34. Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite
woman. 2 And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. 3 Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. 4 And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. 5 And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. 6 And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you... (cont’d)
--Numbers 12 ESV

35. ...I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with
him in a dream. 7 Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” 9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.
10 When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. 11 And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do
not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned.
12 Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is... (cont’d)
--Numbers 12 ESV

36. ...half eaten away when he comes out of his mother's womb.”
13 And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.”
14 But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.”
15 So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again.
16 After that the people set out from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran.
--Numbers 12 ESV

38. Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 27-28
Q. How does the knowledge of God's creation and providence help us?
A. We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing in creation will separate us from his love. For all creatures are
so completely in God's hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved

40. The gospel shows us
just how big God is

42. --Nahum 1.14-15 ESV 14 The Lord has given commandment about you:
“No more shall your name be perpetuated;
from the house of your gods I will cut off
the carved image and the metal image.
I will make your grave, for you are vile.”
15 Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him
who brings good news, who publishes peace!
Keep your feasts, O Judah;
fulfill your vows,
for never again shall the worthless pass through you;
he is utterly cut off.
--Nahum ESV

44. Nahum: Your God is Too Small
Pastor Nathan Weller
May 27, 2018
Series: Not a Minor Prophet