[Faith-talk] Baffling Bible Questions Answered for Monday, August 1, 2016

[Paul Smith]

Hello and good day to my astute Bible students out there.  Hope your 
day is going well, by God's matchless grace and His providential care, 
and that my compatriots are staying cool on this summer day.

Like last week, we have two books to deal with, namely, Micah and 
Nahum, so let's begin with Micah.



Question:  Who wrote this book, and what themes and issues does it deal with?

Answer:  The prophet Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and ministered 
in Judah between 750 and 686 B.C.  The book alternates between 
predictions of judgment and words of hope.  While God rejects idolatry, 
injustice and ritualism, He gladly pardons the penitent.  Another major 
theme of Micah is that David's kingdom would be restored and enlarged 
under the coming Messiah.



Micah 6:6-8

Question:  How are these verses to be understood? It sounds as if a 
person can be saved if he or she will "act justly ... love mercy and 
... and walk humbly with ... God."

Answer:  It is always important to interpret any verse or passage in 
its context.  This verse is addressed to people who, through descent 
from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, are in a special covenant relationship 
with God.  However, to fulfill their obligation under God's law, these 
covenant people were called to a life of justice, mercy, and 
responsiveness to God.  This prophet, like Amos, Isaiah, and many 
others, is deeply disturbed because God's people assume that they can 
win God's favor with ritual and sacrifice while ignoring the moral and 
social dimensions of a walk with God.

These same words might well be addressed to Christians today.  They lay 
a foundation for any believer who seeks to live in fellowship with the 
Lord.  They are not addressed to unbelievers, nor does it lay out a way 
of salvation or imply that a person's behavior is the basis of eternal 
salvation.



NAHUM

Question:  Who wrote this book, and what themes and issues does it deal with?

Answer:  Nothing is known of the author, whose name means "comfort of 
the Lord." Most believe Nahum wrote between the fall of Thebes in 663 
B.C., mentioned in 3:8-10, and the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C.  His 
words, spoken against the Assyrian capital, were intended to comfort 
Judah, which had been threatened by its great northern neighbor for decades.



Nahum 1:2, 3

Question:  How can we reconcile Nahum's portrayal of God as "jealous 
and avenging" with the notion of a God of love? How can we explain the 
note of joy in this book over the bloody destruction of Nineveh?

Answer:  This common moral argument is based on several faulty 
assumptions.  First is the assumption that a God of love cannot at the 
same time be a God who metes out terrible judgment on sin.  Both the 
Old and New Testaments make it clear that this is a false assumption.  
Second is the assumption that vengeance in itself is sinful.  While it 
is true that human beings are not to take revenge, the Bible clearly 
reserves for God not only the right but the obligation to take 
vengeance on sinners.  Thus, Paul quotes the Old Testament by saying, 
"It is Mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord" (Rom. 12:19).  
God's vengeance cannot be criticized as long as it is not confused with 
vindictive retaliation.  Finally, the note of joy sounded in this book 
is completely understandable.  The prophet's people have been 
threatened for decades by one of the most cruel, destructive peoples 
known to the ancient world.  Who would not rejoice to see the threat 
removed and the persecutor of many nations humbled at last?

And there you have this week's baffling Bible questions answered column 
for this week.  Hoping that the reading and meditating on it was a 
blessing for you, may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us 
safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we 
live.  Lord willing, tomorrow in this space the articles will resume.  
Your Christian friend and brother, Paul