The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of
Nahum the Elkoshite. God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD
revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and
he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger,
and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his
way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan
languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth (Nah. 1:1-4).
COMMON GRACE
ARGUMENT:
A common interpretation of Nahum 1:3 is
that the Lord is inclined to be sparing toward the ungodly; He spares them in
His goodness and compassion, and restrains Himself toward the ungodly (without
distinction) in His love and pity toward them.
(I)
Herman Veldman (1908-1997)
[Source:
“The Terms, Longsuffering and Forbearance, in Holy Writ,” in The
Standard Bearer, vol.
25, no. 20 (August 1, 1949), p. 464]
The
term for longsuffering in the Old Testament is the Hebrew expression, “erek
aphim,” which means literally: long of face. The idea of this
expression is literally that one restrains himself, holds himself in check, is
not tempted to do anything under the influence of temper. The word longsuffering
in the New Testament is “makrothumia.” This word means literally: to
be of a long spirit, or passion. And the thought underlying this word is
the same as that of the Old Testament “erek aphim,” namely, to hold
oneself in check or restraint. The word for forbearance in the New
Testament is “anochee”—this word means literally toleration,
forbearance, and is derived from a word which signifies: to hold
oneself, to hold oneself in restraint.
In connection with these words for longsuffering and forbearance, in both the Old and New Testaments, we must note that the words longsuffering and forbearance as such are neutral. Both words, “makrothumia (longsuffering)” and “anochee (forbearance)” simply mean, literally, to hold oneself, restrain oneself, hold oneself in check, and this can refer to a restraining of one’s anger or love. The words themselves do not indicate the one or the other. Hence, whenever these words appear in Holy Writ, the context must decide whether the meaning of Scripture is that of a restraining by the Lord of either His love or His wrath. Although we will confine ourselves to the New Testament, in our effort to determine the true meaning of these concepts, let us quote, as an example of that which we have written in this paragraph, Nahum 1:3. That text reads: “The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” Note the expression in this text: The Lord is slow to anger. A common interpretation of this expression is that the Lord is inclined to be sparing toward the ungodly; He spares them in His goodness and compassion. Let us be reminded once more of the definition of “longsuffering” by Prof. Berkhof and apply this definition to this passage in Nahum: “God’s longsuffering is that aspect of the goodness or love of God in virtue of which He bears with the froward and evil in spite of their long continued disobedience.” The Lord’s slowness to anger, then, in this text of Nahum 1 must be understood in the sense that the Lord restrained Himself toward the ungodly in His love and compassion toward them. However, this interpretation of the text, the interpretation of “Common Grace,” is utterly untenable. Let us carefully read the context, verses 1-6:
The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum
the Elkoshite. God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and
is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth
wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will
not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the
storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh
it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the
flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt,
and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell
therein. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the
fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are
thrown down by him.
Hence, the expression, translated, “slow to anger” (“lankmoedig” in the Dutch—literally: long of spirit or breath), certainly does not mean that the Lord checks Himself in love. There is absolutely nothing in this entire context of verses 1-6 which would faintly suggest such a love of the Lord. In fact, the very opposite is true. We read in verse 3 that the Lord “will not at all acquit the wicked,” and in verse 2 the prophet declares that the Lord “reserveth wrath for his enemies.” Nahum 1:3 teaches, therefore, that the Lord is holding His wrath temporarily in restraint—the text surely does not teach any general love or compassion of the Lord. And this verifies our remark or observation to the effect that the word, “makrothumia” or “anochee,” is in itself neutral and must be determined, as far as its significance is concerned, by the context.
More to come! (DV)
No comments:
Post a Comment