Nahum and Habakkuk

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Nahum and Habakkuk
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Nahum

• This is a message about Nineveh, the account of
  a vision seen by Nahum, who was from Elkosh.
  (Nahum 11 GN) 612 BC Nineveh
  destroyed
• One day the LORD spoke to JonahHe said, Go to
  Nineveh, that great city, and speak out against
  it I am aware of how wicked its people are.
  (Jonah 11-2 GN) 783-743 BC

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• Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled
  at God, God! I knew itwhen I was back home, I
  knew this was going to happen! Thats why I ran
  off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and
  mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and
  ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of
  punishment into a program of forgiveness! So,
  God, if you wont kill them, kill me! Im better
  off dead! (Jonah 41-3 The Message)

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• For God loved the world so much that he gave his
  only Son (John 316 GN)
• The LORD says, The people I love are doing evil
  things. (Jeremiah 1115 GN)
• My heart cries out for Moab! (Isaiah 155 GN)
• The LORD says, People of Israel, I think as
  much of the people of Ethiopia as I do of you. I
  brought the Philistines from Crete and the
  Syrians from Kir, just as I brought you from
  Egypt. (Amos 97 GN)
• Turn to me now and be saved, people all over the
  world! (Isaiah 4522 GN)
• Roman officer I tell you, I have never found
  faith like this, not even in Israel! (Luke 79
  GN)
• Canaanite woman You are a woman of great
  faith! (Matthew 1528 GN)

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Terminal Diagnosis

• There is no remedy for your injuries, and your
  wounds cannot be healed. All those who hear the
  news of your destruction clap their hands for
  joy. Did anyone escape your endless cruelty?
  (Nahum 319)

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• Israel
• I wanted to heal Israel, but its sins were far
  too great. Samaria is filled with liars, thieves,
  and bandits! (Hosea 71 NLT)

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• Judah
• The LORD God of their ancestors repeatedly sent
  messages through his messengers because he wanted
  to spare his people and his dwelling place. But
  they mocked Gods messengers, despised his words,
  and made fun of his prophets until the LORD
  became angry with his people. He could no longer
  heal them (2 Chronicles 3615,16, GODS WORD).
• Is there no medicine in Gilead? Are there no
  doctors there? Why, then, have my people not been
  healed? (Jeremiah 822 GN).
• The Lord says to his people, Your wounds are
  incurable, your injuries cannot be healed. There
  is no one to take care of you, no remedy for your
  sores, no hope of healing for you. (Jeremiah
  301213 GN).

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• Babylon
• Babylon will suddenly fall and be shattered. Cry
  for it. Bring medicine for its pain. Maybe it can
  be healed. We wanted to heal Babylon, but it
  couldnt be healed. Lets abandon it and go to
  our own land. God has judged Babylon. Its
  judgment is complete. (Jeremiah 518,9, GODS
  WORD).
• Egypt
• People of Egypt, go to Gilead and look for
  medicine! All your medicine has proved useless
  nothing can heal you. (Jeremiah 4612 GN)

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• Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new
  and loyal spirit in me. (Psalms 5110 GN)

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• So the prophecy of Isaiah applies to them This
  people will listen and listen, but not
  understand they will look and look, but not see,
  because their minds are dull, and they have
  stopped up their ears and have closed their eyes.
  Otherwise, their eyes would see, their ears would
  hear, their minds would understand, and they
  would turn to me, says God, and I would heal
  them. (Matthew 1314-15 GN)

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• The LORD said to Moses, How much longer will
  these people reject me? How much longer will they
  refuse to trust in me, even though I have
  performed so many miracles among them? (Numbers
  1411 GN)
• The Lord answered, I will forgive them, as you
  have asked. But I promise that as surely as I
  live and as surely as my presence fills the
  earth, none of these people will live to enter
  that land. They have seen the dazzling light of
  my presence and the miracles that I performed in
  Egypt and in the wilderness, but they have tried
  my patience over and over again and have refused
  to obey me. They will never enter the land which
  I promised to their ancestors. None of those who
  have rejected me will ever enter it (Numbers
  1420-23).

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• Stephen
• And he fell to his knees, shouting, Lord, dont
  charge them with this sin! And with that, he
  died. (Acts 760 - NLT).
• Jesus
• Forgive them, Father! (Luke 2334 - GN).
• When the captain there saw what happened, he
  honored God This man was innocent! A good man,
  and innocent! All who had come around as
  spectators to watch the show, when they saw what
  actually happened, were overcome with grief and
  headed home. (Luke 2347,48 The Message)

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• The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the
  attribute of the strong.
• Gandhi

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• Do you have contempt for God, who is very kind
  to you, puts up with you, and deals patiently
  with you? Dont you realize that it is Gods
  kindness that is trying to lead you to him and
  change the way you think and act? (Romans 24
  GODS WORD)

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• And all of us have had that veil removed so that
  we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory
  of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works
  within us, we become more and more like him and
  reflect his glory even more (2 Corinthians 318,
  NLT).

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• Jesus said to them, I am telling you the truth
  if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and
  drink his blood, you will not have life in
  yourselves. Those who eat my flesh and drink my
  blood have eternal life, and I will raise them to
  life on the last day. For my flesh is the real
  food my blood is the real drink. Those who eat
  my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I
  live in them. (John 653-56 GN)

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• The members of the Council were amazed to see
  how bold Peter and John were and to learn that
  they were ordinary men of no education. They
  realized then that they had been companions of
  Jesus. (Acts 413 GN)

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• For from the inside, from your heart, come the
  evil ideas which lead you to do immoral things,
  to rob, kill, commit adultery, be greedy, and do
  all sorts of evil things deceit, indecency,
  jealousy, slander, pride, and folly--- all these
  evil things come from inside you and make you
  unclean. (Mark 721-23 GN)

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• Rather, the real Jew is the person who is a Jew
  on the inside, that is, whose heart has been
  circumcised, and this is the work of Gods
  Spirit, not of the written Law. Such a person
  receives praise from God, not from human beings.
  (Romans 229 GN)

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The physician model

• A 55 year old man comes to see you after missing
  his last 25 appointments
• He has neglected his high blood pressure and
  diabetes for years
• His diet has been horrible
• He smokes 3 packs of cigarettes per day.
• He hasnt taken his medications. Now he is
  feeling dizzy and has headaches.

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Habakkuk

• This is the message that the LORD revealed to
  the prophet Habakkuk. O LORD, how long must I
  call for help before you listen, before you save
  us from violence? Why do you make me see such
  trouble? How can you stand to look on such
  wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are all
  around me, and there is fighting and quarreling
  everywhere. The law is weak and useless, and
  justice is never done. Evil people get the better
  of the righteous, and so justice is perverted.
• Then the LORD said to his people, Keep watching
  the nations around you, and you will be
  astonished at what you see. I am going to do
  something that you will not believe when you hear
  about it. I am bringing the Babylonians to power,
  those fierce, restless people. They are marching
  out across the world to conquer other lands.
  (Habakkuk 11-6 GN)

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• God, youre from eternity, arent you? Holy God,
  we arent going to die, are we? God, you chose
  Babylonians for your judgment work? Rock-Solid
  God, you gave them the job of discipline? But you
  cant be serious! You cant condone evil! So why
  dont you do something about this? Why are you
  silent now? This outrage! Evil men swallow up the
  righteous and you stand around and watch! Youre
  treating men and women as so many fish in the
  ocean, Swimming without direction, swimming but
  not getting anywhere. Then this evil Babylonian
  arrives and goes fishing. He pulls in a good
  catch. He catches his limit and fills his creel
  a good day of fishing! Hes happy! He praises his
  rod and reel, piles his fishing gear on an altar
  and worships it! Its made his day, and hes
  going to eat well tonight! Are you going to let
  this go on and on? Will you let this Babylonian
  fisherman fish like a weekend angler, killing
  people as if theyre nothing but fish? Whats God
  going to say to my questions? Im braced for the
  worst. Ill climb to the lookout tower and scan
  the horizon. Ill wait to see what God says, how
  hell answer my complaint. (Habakkuk 112-17 21
  The Message)

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• Then Moses turned to the LORD again and said,
  Lord, why do you mistreat your people? Why did
  you send me here? Ever since I went to the king
  to speak for you, he has treated them cruelly.
  And you have done nothing to help them! (Exodus
  522-23 GN)

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• Surely you won't kill the innocent with the
  guilty. That's impossible! You can't do that. If
  you did, the innocent would be punished along
  with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of
  all the earth has to act justly. (Genesis 1825
  GN)

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• Job I still rebel and complain against God I
  cannot keep from groaning. How I wish I knew
  where to find him, and knew how to go where he
  is. I would state my case before him and present
  all the arguments in my favor. I want to know
  what he would say and how he would answer me.
  Would God use all his strength against me? No, he
  would listen as I spoke. I am honest I could
  reason with God he would declare me innocent
  once and for all. (Job 231-7 GN)
• Elihu I wont ask to speak with God why should
  I give him a chance to destroy me? Gods power is
  so great that we cannot come near him. (Job
  3720,23 GN)

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• The LORD gave me this answer Write down
  clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that
  it can be read at a glance. Put it in writing,
  because it is not yet time for it to come true.
  But the time is coming quickly, and what I show
  you will come true. It may seem slow in coming,
  but wait for it it will certainly take place,
  and it will not be delayed. And this is the
  message Those who are evil will not survive,
  but those who are righteous will live because
  they are faithful to God. (Habakkuk 21-4 GN)

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• Even if the fig tree does not bloom and the
  vines have no grapes, even if the olive tree
  fails to produce and the fields yield no food,
  even if the sheep pen is empty and the stalls
  have no cattle- even then, I will be happy with
  the LORD. I will truly find joy in God, who saves
  me. The LORD Almighty is my strength. He makes my
  feet like those of a deer. He makes me walk on
  the mountains. (Habakkuk 317-19 GODS WORD)

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• But the righteous person will live because of
  his faithfulness. (Habakkuk 24 GODS WORD)
• Abraham put his trust in the LORD, and because
  of this the LORD was pleased with him and
  accepted him (Genesis 156 GN)
• Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him (Job
  1315, KJV)

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• For I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is
  the power of God unto salvation to every one that
  believeth to the Jew first, and also to the
  Greek. For therein is revealed a righteousness of
  God from faith unto faith as it is written, But
  the righteous shall live by faith. (Romans
  116-17 ASV)
• For the good news is a revelation of Gods true
  righteousness, character, methods and principles
  that restores trust in God and results in
  re-creation of a righteous and Christlike
  character, just as it is written The Christlike
  will live by trust. (Romans 116-7 TJ)

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• Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be
  saved---you and your family." (Acts 1631 GN)
• Have faith in the Lord Jesus. (Berkeley)
• They said, Put your entire trust in the Master
  Jesus. Then you'll live as you were meant to
  live--and everyone in your house included!
  (Acts 1631 The Message)
• Put your trust in the Lord Jesus (NEB)

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• Those who know you, LORD, will trust you
  (Psalms 910 GN)