Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him
who brings good news,
who publishes peace!
Keep your feasts, O Judah;
fulfill your vows,
for never again shall the worthless pass through you;
he is utterly cut off.
God brings good news to His people, as He brings bad news to their enemy. The above verse is at the end of chapter one of Nahum’s prophecy. Nahum has just told the leaders of Nineveh that God was going to take their plans for destruction of His people and turn them into God’s plans for the destruction of Nineveh. A generation earlier God sent Jonah to Nineveh (the capital city of Assyria) to preach repentance. He ran, as we know, at first, but eventually went and the entire city repented. But, now that a new generation had risen up, they turned, once again, away from God. Nahum was sent to them. But, this time, not to preach repentance, but to preach God’s wrath. That is chapter one. But, this verse at the end is not addressed to Nineveh and their leaders. It is addressed to Judah. As a message of bad news is sent against Nineveh, a messenger is sent to Judah to tell them the good news. The news is “peace.” Their enemy is going to be destroyed. Their enemy will no longer hinder their feasts of celebration to God. Now they can keep their vows to God (vows, no doubt that were utter in prayer by them when they sought God’s mercy and grace). God is listening to us and will send relief. Peace is utter to us in the midst of our chaos. We can rejoice that no matter how large the foe, God is the one in control.
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