“12. Thus saith the LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. 13. For now will I break off his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.”
The beginning of the chapter starts out with the burden of Nineveh. This is many years after the days of Jonah. Nineveh is the capitol of Assyria. The king of Assyria is greatly feared because of his power and destruction of many other nations. The 10 northern tribes of Israel have been judged by God through the Assyrian invasion, but at this passage of scripture we see God putting his hand of protection upon Judah and Jerusalem. The end of Verse 12 is the focus on today’s devotion; “Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.” Its very hard to avoid affliction. There are so many great men of the faith that had great victories in the Lord, but not before affliction. Affliction is defined as: to give to the body or mind pain which is continued or of some permanence; to grieve, or distress. Do you feel like you’ve had affliction in your life lately? Do you feel like God is putting you to the test? God has allowed some affliction to Judah, but God wasn’t going to destroy them. Isaiah 36:1 “Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.” God allowed affliction for a time, but in verse 12 He said He would allow it no more. Do you really trust God for the difficulties in life? God wants you to trust Him. It may be that He is allowing affliction in your life so you will have a greater faith! To an avid hunter affliction might be that you haven’t killed a deer in a year or two. That could be considered light affliction, but God may be trying to get your attention and help you realize your focus needs to be on Jesus Christ rather than the tree stand. Its not wrong to hunt, but its important to have proper balance. Proverbs 11:1 “A FALSE balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.” On a different note, maybe your affliction is through seeing your family saved or being persecuted in the work place. If you feel affliction in your life right now, just keep holding onto Jesus, its part of the Christian walk. The odds for king Hezekiah did not look good from a human standpoint, but God said don’t worry, the affliction is over, Assyria will not hurt you and they will return to their land in the same direction that they came. God wanted king Hezekiah(king of Judah) to simply trust His Word. King Hezekiah stood his ground and God delivered him mightily. God sent an angel into the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. King Sennacherib of Nineveh(Assyrian Capitol) returned to his land and was killed by the sword just as God had spoken. God is faithful! Thank Him for your affliction. He wants you to trust Him! Its important to have a clean heart with God, sometimes the affliction is a chastisement, but many times its just God testing your faith so He can do great things through you! Don’t bail out, stay faithful! We would encourage you to read the following scriptures as part of this devotion: Nahum 1, Isaiah 36-37, II Kings 18-19. This will help you get a full understanding of this great deliverance!
Memory Verse Week 8/5/19
Nahum 1:12
“Thus saith the LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.”
