“The LORD is good. When trouble comes, He is a strong refuge. And He knows everyone who trusts in Him. But He sweeps away His enemies in an overwhelming flood. He pursues His foes into the darkness of night.”
- Nahum 1:7-8
Remember back to Jonah? His task was to prophesy to Nineveh about their possible destruction at the hand of God for their graves sins as a city. These people are not the promise land people, and they have actually terrorized the God’s promise people. They were surely deserving of immediate judgement, right? Wrong. Instead, they repented of their sins and God forgave them. God extended grace to a people that Jonah did not necessarily expect but Jonah tried to prevent it from happening. God showed grace to Nineveh. Well, until about 150 years later when Nineveh get’s destroyed by Babylon.
What changed? Assyria, the nation in which Nineveh is aa part of, was back at it again oppressing Judah. They went back to being the enemies of God, which meant great hope for Judah. This meant that Judah would not fall because of Assyria, for they were now protected by God. Though that does not mean Judah is in the clear from its own sins and oppressions. But that is a story for another day.
Nahum is the prophet God uses to proclaim Nineveh’s destruction as it will actually happen. There is no chance to repent this time, they have made themselves enemies of God.
Who is on God’s Side?
This brings us to an interesting dilemma that many try to think through, discerning who is on God’s side.
One may easily and quickly think its Christians. They after all are the one’s who proclaim to trust in Jesus Christ. While in the right direction, I believe it is much harder than that. For one could seemingly say they believe in Jesus, proclaim aloud that they are a Christian, and yet not be on God’s side.
There are times I believe anyone of us may find ourselves not on God’s side, because we act in our own self-interest, oppress others, or identify with other groups more than as God’s.
There for a while, Nineveh found themselves on God’s side. As God relented from punishing them severely and acted as their refuge, for God is a compassionate and gracious God. And there are other times where Judah and Israel find themselves as God’s enemy, acting in rebellion and self-interest, and God relents having been gracious to them for He is a jealous and just God.
We might be too quick sometimes to associate our selves with being on God’s side because we have some righteous stances. However, these same stances can lead us to be enemies, and not really on God’s side. Here’s a fun pattern I see across my Facebook and Instagram pages as Christians post about life and hot topics. Whether they are conservative or liberal, republican or democrat, Calvinist or Arminian, to everyone in-between, they all tend to make the same assumption that they get it right and are on God’s side, and the other has it all wrong and are leading people to Satan.
What if we all have it wrong? I think we do most of the time at least. I know I make wrong and incomplete decisions and actions every day that regularly fall short of how God would desire for us to be living. I know I need to repent of some of these underlying arrogant beliefs I have on the regular.
Just think of about any kind of disagreement you would have with someone. Are you really in the right and they in the wrong? Does that really matter if its going to cause a rift in the relationship? Does having the power, success, money, or benefits really matter to the point you are actually an enemy of God?
Truly, those who are on God’s side, live with a real and honest trust in God. At the cost to themselves, their views, and so on. The enemy of God, however, has gotten there without realizing they have offended God, without thinking they were doing something wrong because they pursued their own self-interest. For Nineveh it was imperialism. For Judah, it was wealth of the royals.
God remains loyal to those who remain loyal to Him. If loyalty is broken, God is just and merciful. Our response, our seeking of Him matters. While God is not controlled by our responses, I believe God chooses to be in relationship with us to where He decided to be merciful to the repentant, and just to the rebellious, and a refuge to the oppressed. For God is good.
Final Blessing:
So really the only way we can know if we are on God’s side or not is first, to not just assume we are. Instead of arrogantly assuming, we must deeply analyze ourselves, how we are treating people, where our allegiances are, and if we really do believe in all that Jesus has done. At least that is how I break down trust in God. Let us not be quick to assume but be ready to repent and walk with our God, who is good, compassionate, gracious, and just. That is what it means to be on God’s side.
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breathe, and every heart beat of your journey.
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