My reflection today; God Has Decreed

Bible Reading: Nahum 2: 1–7

1. An attacker advances against you, Nineveh. Guard the fortress, watch the road, brace yourselves, marshal all your strength!

2. The Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and have ruined their vines.

3. The shields of the soldiers are red; the warriors are clad in scarlet. The metal on the chariots flashes on the day they are made ready; the spears of juniper are brandished.

4. The chariots storm through the streets, rushing back and forth through the squares. They look like flaming torches; they dart about like lightning.

5. Nineveh summons her picked troops, yet they stumble on their way. They dash to the city wall; the protective shield is put in place.

6. The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses.

7. It is decreed that Nineveh be exiled and carried away. Her female slaves moan like doves and beat on their breasts.
   (The Holy Bible, New Intetnational Version®. Copyright © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.)

Word for Today: An attacker advances against you, Nineveh. Guard the fortress, watch the road, brace yourselves, marshal all your strength! – v. 1.

Inspiring Commentary:

God can be depended upon to bring to accomplishment what He has said He will do. God has decreed destruction for Nineveh and now it is imminent. The destruction of the city of Nineveh eventually came to pass after a period of about 50years. Why did it take God this number of years to carry out what He has decreed? The lessons from this are:

First, is the fact that our God is slow to anger. The reason for this is to give room for repentance. Though He had decreed destruction for Nineveh because of her sins, He did not carry it out immediately, so that perhaps she can repent and the jugdement be averted. Nineveh did not however cash in on the benevolence of God. This resulted in God's wrath being carried out by an attacker who utterly carried the inhabitants into exile. The second is the fact that no matter how long it tarries, what God has decreed will surely come to pass, especially His promises to His children. It may take so long but gradually the time for its fulfilment will come.

As children of God, we should not toy with sin. We need to repent of our sins and pray that God will give us an intense hatred for sin.

Prayer:
Lord, help me to sincerely repent of my sins and serve you to the end.